The Hidden Child (Hiei) ON HIATUS
by AppleBee25
Summary: (Name) was living a normal life, or as normal as it could be due to her circumstances, before she managed to get herself involved in a difficult situation. How will she react and what will she do as she finds out things that will turn her life completely upside down? Follow her on her adventures with Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, and Kurama to find out. Rated Mature for a future lemon.
1. Chapter 1: A Rough Day

**A/N:**

This is a disclaimer. I own nothing except for my characters! All other characters belong to the creator of Yu Yu Hakusho! Please do not repost this story without my permission.

Any constructive criticism is welcome. Tell me what you think.

This story does contain mature content! There will be a lemon and there is also attempted rape further in! If that kind of stuff makes you uncomfortable, then please don't read it. You have been warned!

* * *

 **Chapter 1: A Rough Day**

"Ow! What the hell?!" I shouted in annoyance as I felt something bite my neck.

I slapped the side of my neck to kill whatever it was and then lifted my hand to look at it. The strange thing was the fact that I couldn't see anything like a bug but I felt something on my hand.

"What…?" I asked myself in confusion.

I decided to shrug the whole thing off and walked out of the dark alleyway that I was in and onto the sidewalk as I flicked my hand to the side and felt the invisible object fall off my hand.

Today really was a complete drag and unfortunately that was normal. I was currently living in Mushiyori City after I was forced to move away from my hometown a few years ago. There's nothing interesting to do here even though I live in the city. Everyday was the same as the day before. I went to school, wandered around the city aimlessly by myself, ended up in a fight or two, went home, and lastly finished my homework before I went to sleep.

When I finally made it to the apartment I was living in I decided to go to the bathroom and looked at my neck through the reflection in the large mirror. A look of annoyance appeared on my face as I stared at the large, red, bug bite at the side of my neck with my (e/c) eyes. It was large enough to be mistaken for a hickey and it was in just the right spot too. The last thing I needed were rumors to spread about it. My reputation was already crappy enough as it was.

No one else was in the apartment like usual so I made myself some dinner. I put my lower back length (h/c) into a high ponytail and used a black headband to push back the thick bangs that went across my forehead as I started on my homework that was due tomorrow. Once I finished it I immediately decided to go to bed early since I was starting to feel extremely sick.

The next day arrived and I felt like I had been run over by a truck several times. My forehead was burning, my body felt like lead, and I just wanted to go back to sleep but I made myself stay awake anyway as I tiredly rubbed my face and eyes with my hands. After I could see clearly I turned my head and looked over at the alarm clock that was on the small dresser next to my bed. A groan escaped my lips when I looked at the time and realized that I should have woken up thirty minutes ago. I forced myself to get out of the bed and hurried to get ready for another hellish day of school as fast as I could. By the time I left the apartment I was wearing a black tank top underneath a red long sleeved uniform top, a red pleaded skirt that reached down to the middle of my shins, black shin length socks, and brown shoes. My hair was down like usual and I had my backpack strapped over my right shoulder.

I saw my mother from the corner of my eye and was lucky enough to avoid her completely since she was too busy talking to whatever man she was with. The last thing I needed was to stay at the apartment and deal with that or get in to trouble with her...

On my way to the train station I could faintly see extremely blurry objects flying through the air. It worried me a little. Was I really so sick that I was hallucinating? But, even if that was the case I couldn't allow it to deter me from going to school. I wasn't going to stay at the apartment even if it killed me.

The moment I made it to Meiou High School I walked through the doors of the building and headed towards my classroom as quickly as I could while I avoided everyone one. There were a few students that stared at me as they talked about me behind my back and a few others that immediately moved out of my way as I walked down the halls but I ignored all of them. This was the way that they usually acted around me. When I walked into my student filled classroom I silently walked over to my desk and sat down in my seat as I let out a quiet sigh of exhaustion. After that I looked outside and ignored everyone else as I stared up at the blue sky with my head propped up in my right hand as I rested my elbow on my desk.

"Are you feeling alright, (Last Name)-san?" I heard a familiar voice say from the seat next to me.

His name was Shuichi Minamino. He was a handsome and yet feminine looking boy with green eyes and long red that that was the same length as mine. He had thick bangs that went across his forehead and two long sideburns that were in front of his shoulders while the rest of his hair went over his back. His outfit was the boys version of my school uniform and consisted of dark pink colored pants, a dark pink long sleeved jacket with gold trimming, and black shoes.

He was the smartest person in the school and was liked by mostly everyone. The only person that I could think of that didn't like him was Yu Kaito, a boy who thought of him as a rival. They never officially said that they were rivals but I could tell that Kaito didn't like him after he managed to get a higher score on the exams then he did. Ever since that time Kaito has been attempting to beat him at least once on the exams but all of his attempts so far have been unsuccessful. In Minamino's case I don't think that he actually thinks of him as a rival but that probably just adds fuel to the fire.

Minamino and I weren't really friends but he was always friendly towards me and talked to me despite my crappy reputation. It took me by surprise when he talked to me for the first time. He didn't treat me like I was some low life like the others in our school did. That's why I was willing to give him the time of day. A part of me wondered why he didn't since I was sure that he had heard the stories about me from the people that had been in Junior High School with me. They made sure to tell everyone about me the second they realized that I was going to the same school as they were. Granted, most of the stories were actually true, or at least partially true, but I try to forget about it as much as I can.

"Yes, I'm fine Minamino. I'm just a little tired. Thanks for asking." I said with a forced smile on my face as I looked over at him.

Minamino didn't look convinced as he looked at me with concern in his eyes but he didn't voice it. He didn't have the chance to since class started before he could really say anything else.

During lunch I went up to the school roof like I normally did to be by myself and climbed the ladder to get up onto the small upper section that was above the school staircase and lied down to look up at the sky. My eyelids felt heavy and tried to close against my will since I was still feeling extremely ill but before I could fall asleep I heard voices on the main part of the roof. Annoyingly familiar voices.

"Hey! Get down here and fight us!" I heard Togashi shout up to me.

"Yeah! We're going to beat the crap out of you!" Tasuke shouted.

I had an extremely annoyed expression on my face as I sat up and glared down at them.

They were, as I had dubbed then in my head, Togashi's gang or the annoying pests depending on my mood. Right now they were the annoying pests.

Togashi had short black hair with thick bangs that went across his forehead and blue eyes. Tasuke had short brown hair that was parted to left and brown eyes. Sohma had short messy black hair with thick bangs that went across his forehead and green eyes. Takahashi had short blonde hair with thick bangs across his forehead and green eyes. Kinomoto, who was Takahashi's twin, also had short blonde hair with thick bangs across his forehead and green eyes.

"You should just give up already. You know that you can't beat me." I said bluntly.

They all glared up at me and Sohma shouted up at me annoyed.

"Care to say that again?!" he shouted as he cracked his knuckles.

"You're weak. Even right now I'm sure you can't beat me and I'm sick." I said bluntly again.

"Why you...!" Takahashi shouted as he took a step forward.

"Come down here and say that to our faces!" Kinomoto shouted.

I looked at them with even more annoyance on my face before I stood up and then jumped down to the main part of the roof. I landed in front of them in a crouched position and when I stood up straight I spoke with a cold smirk on my face.

"Alright, I'm here. I'll say it to your faces like you want me to. Try to hit me with your best shot you idiotic weaklings. You can't beat me and will never be able to beat me."

Veins popped out of their foreheads as they looked at me in more anger then before and then they yelled out and charged at me. This time while I fought them I immediately noticed how my movements were slower then usual and I wasn't able to fight back properly. In fact, they were actually able to get in quite a few good hits. Despite the fact that I was sick though I was able to defeat them eventually even if I did receive a beating.

"We'll get you back for this! One of these day's we'll defeat you! Mark my words!" Togashi shouted as he and his gang ran away from me with their tails between their legs.

A sigh escaped my lips once they were finally gone and I started to walk back over to the ladder to get up to the section of the roof I had been on before the fight. Unfortunately, before I could make it over there my vision began to blur in and out and I fell unconscious on the main part of the roof.

When I was able to open my eyes again I immediately noticed that I was inside of the building. All of the lights were on inside of the room and were the only source of light indicating that it was already dark outside since the rooms in the school building were normally filled with the natural light from outside. The school nurse stood next to me at the side of the bed I was on with a concerned expression on her face as she used a wet cloth to cool off my forehead.

She had shoulder length black hair that was parted in the middle and purple eyes. Her outfit consisted of a pair of black pants, a purple-t-shirt, and a white doctor coat.

It was obvious at this point that I was inside of the nurses office at school. I've been inside of it on more then one occasion.

"You're finally awake." she said with relief in her voice.

She had taken off my uniform top, socks, and shoes and I saw how much damage I really had sustained from my fight. There were bandages wrapped around the lower half of my left forearm and hand, my right shin, and I noticed that I had quite a few bruises all over my body.

Was I really that badly beaten?

"Of course I'm awake. It will take more then a beating to keep me down." I said with a weak voice.

I slowly sat up as I fought against the dizziness that tried to take over while the nurse looked at me with a great amount of concern.

"Did you come to school with this fever?" she asked.

"Yes... What happened exactly? Why am I here?" I asked as I tiredly rubbed my face.

"Minamino found you on the roof after he heard Togashi and his group talk about finally getting the chance to beat you up."

An extremely annoyed expression appeared on my face as my right eye twitched. That explains why I didn't remember being as beaten up as I was. They beat me up when I couldn't do anything to stop them!

"Those bastards! Just wait until I get my hands on them! I'll kick their asses with no remorse!" I said with anger in my voice as I cracked my knuckles.

"That should be the last of your concerns. Minamino said that you didn't return for class after lunch and it wasn't until after school that you were beaten up by Togashi and his group. Where were you?" she asked.

"On the roof." I said without giving any other information.

"Did you fall unconscious because of your fever?" she asked.

"I'll be fine. I'm sure that I'll be as good as new after a little rest." I said as I tried to reassure her.

"I noticed that you have some sort of strange bug bite on your neck that I can't seem to identify. It's pretty swollen." she said obviously not reassured by my words.

"I was bitten last night while wandering around town."

"I suggest that you have someone look at it. It could be serious."

I didn't say anything in response. It wasn't like I could actually afford to go to the doctor anyway.

"What time is it?" I asked as I changed the subject.

"It's already nine. You've been unconscious this entire time."

The door to the room opened and I looked over before my eyes widened in surprise as I watched Minamino walk into the room.

"Minamino?" I asked.

He looked at me and his eyes widened in surprise before relief appeared on his face.

"(Last Name)-san, you're awake." he said.

"He was worried when he saw the condition you were in and stayed here." the nurse said to me.

I slowly nodded my head in understanding before I spoke with a weak smile as I looked at him a little embarrassed.

"Well then I guess I have to thank you for your help Minamino. If you wouldn't have found me I would probably still be up there."

"What happened? How are you feeling?" he asked in concern as he walked over to the foot of the bed.

"I haven't been feeling at the top of my game today because of a fever that's all. I'll be alright after some rest." I said with a shrug.

"I think that it would be a good idea for you take her home. Her fever's pretty high." the nurse said.

I looked at her in disbelief as I spoke.

"N-No! It's fine. I'm not so sick that I can't make it home by myself." I said as I tried to convince her otherwise.

Besides, the last thing I want is to inconvenience him. He's already done enough for me today.

"I don't think that's very advisable. You have a temperature of one hundred and four degrees and if it gets any higher you could be in serious trouble. You shouldn't have even come to school today. I suggest that you stay home until you're feeling better." she advised with a stern look on her face.

I can't do that.

"I'll make sure that she gets home safely." Minamino said to the nurse.

"Good." she said with a smile and a satisfied nod.

I wasn't happy about it but I wasn't in good enough shape to argue. I put on my socks, shoes, and uniform top before Minamino helped me up to my feet and we headed out of the building.

"Where do you live?" he asked once we reached the school gates.

"Mushiyori City."

It took us about forty-five minutes to make it to Mushiyori City once we made it onto the train. We were completely silent on the way there but I didn't mind it. In fact, I was glad that he wasn't speaking to me. I wasn't in the mood to talk. All I wanted to do was go to sleep. When we finally walked off the train we headed up the stairs of the train station and stepped outside. Minamino stopped walking and I heard a small gasp come from his lips as he looked forward with an alarmed expression on his face. I looked at him in confusion and then looked forward and noticed that the blurry objects were still flying through the air.

There must really be something there that he could see or else he wouldn't have been so surprised. They looked like they were also becoming a little clearer but I still couldn't make out what they were.

"Can you see them?" I asked.

"What?" he asked me in surprise as he looked over at me.

"I just noticed them this morning but whatever they are they're just blurs to me right now. Interestingly enough, they seem to be a little clearer then before even if I can't see what they are. At first I thought that I was seeing things because of my fever but if you can see them then that means that isn't the case."

A small frown appeared on his face as he stared at me but he didn't say anything before we continued to walk through the city and made our way to the apartment. Once we made it inside of the building and over to the door of the apartment room I unlocked it and turned on the light to the living room since it was dark inside. Minamino walked inside and looked around at the living room as I headed over to the couch and sat down in exhaustion.

"You're here by yourself?" he asked in confusion.

"It's fine. I'm sure that my mother will be here soon." I said as I lied through my teeth in order to stop him from worrying.

"If that's the case then I should wait until she-." he said as he took a step towards me before I interrupted him.

"No!" I shouted with wide eyes causing him to jump in surprise as he stopped walking forward.

The confusion on his face was apparent as he looked at me once he recovered from his shock.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to shout at you. Really you don't need to worry about me. I'll be fine now that I'm here. Thank you for coming all this way to make sure that I made it back safely. You can go home. I'm sure that your parents are wondering where you are since it's so late." I said to him before a fake smile appeared on my face.

The perplexed look on his face told me that he didn't buy it but he did as I asked anyway. As soon as he left I stood up from the couch and locked the door to the apartment. I didn't even bother to make myself dinner or do my homework and headed straight to bed while hoping that my fever would be gone by tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2: Meeting Yukina

**A/N:**

This is a disclaimer. I own nothing except for my characters! All other characters belong to the creator of Yu Yu Hakusho! Please do not repost this story without my permission.

Any constructive criticism is welcome. Tell me what you think.

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Meeting Yukina**

Unfortunately my wish didn't come true. The next morning I woke up and I felt as sick as I did the day before. I wanted to go back to sleep but I knew that I couldn't. I had to go to school no matter what even if it meant going against the nurse's orders.

A groan escaped my lips as I slowly sat up and climbed out of the bed to start my day. By the time I arrived at Meiou High School most of the students were already there. As soon as I made it to my classroom I headed over to my desk and sat down next to Minamino while he looked at me with a concerned expression on his face.

"(Last Name)-san, are you sure that you should be here? The nurse told you last night that you should stay home. You still have a really bad fever don't you?" he asked softly as he made sure that no one else heard our conversation.

"I'll be fine Minamino. All I need is a little more rest and I'll be as good as new." I said to him reassuringly.

The look on his face made it obvious that he wasn't convinced as he continued to stare at me but he didn't have a chance to word his concern since the teacher chose that moment to walk into the classroom. That was probably the first time I was actually relieved for class to start. I appreciated his concern but I wasn't in the mood to argue with him about it. There was nothing to talk about. I already knew that I looked sick and that I was sick but I refused to stay at the apartment no matter what. All I needed was a little more rest. It would eventually go away.

After several days had passed my fever didn't seem to die down and as an added symptom the bug bite became more swollen. As I feared rumors spread around about the red spot on my neck and I became the main subject of conversation.

"Look at her neck. Someone's actually willing to go out with her?" I heard a girl ask one of her friends as I walked down the hallway to return to the classroom at the end of lunch.

"Who could have given her that hickey?" the girl asked.

"Someone who isn't in their right mind. There's no way any normal person would go out with her." a guy said as he joined in the conversation.

"It's not like she isn't bad to look at. I'm sure that she has the poor sap wrapped around her little finger and I bet she's good in bed. I heard a rumor that she's plenty experienced. Someone said that she's done it with at least seven guys." another guy said.

My right eye twitched in annoyance and I looked over at them as I stopped walking. The people that were next to me in the hallway noticed my annoyance and jumped away from me in fear but the four who were talking about me hadn't realized that they had caught my attention.

"No way! Is she really that experienced? Maybe I should try to-." the first guy said before I cut him off as I shouted at them.

"Hey!"

The four of them tensed up as they jumped a little and I spoke out again.

"Instead of spending your free time gossiping, do something useful with your lives. It's irritating."

There was no point in defending myself. They wouldn't believe me even if I said that I haven't slept around. I've done many things but that is not one of them.

The rumors continued to persist despite my warning but no one could figure out who I was with. The most common rumor was that I was involved with some dangerous guy in the Yakuza that had lots of money and influence. That seemed to make people even more afraid of me then before. Another was that it was an older guy that was in a motorcycle gang. There was even a rumor that I was using some guy to vent out my sexual frustrations on since I haven't been able to do anything with anyone here. It was mortifying.

My illness continued to persist a few weeks later but I didn't tell anyone about it since I knew that I couldn't do anything. The fact that I had been sick for so long worried me a little. It made it extremely difficult to function or deal with Togashi's gang and the others that liked to pick fights with me. A part of me wished that I could skip school so I wouldn't have to deal with Togashi but if I did then I'd end up dealing with someone else anyway. At least at school I could rest a little during class.

While I was at school Minamino kept a close eye on me to make sure that nothing else happened to me. It flattered me that he cared so much but I didn't really know why he did. It wasn't like I had actually done anything to deserve his kindness. He really was a good person...

After another long week the weekend finally arrived and I was able to relax or sleep to my hearts content once I finished up the homework that I needed to do. On Sunday morning I put on a purple t-shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers and then left the apartment before my mother arrived. I decided to go to the park and lied down on an area of grass that was surrounded by some bushes so no one would try to bother me while I looked up at the clear blue sky. Today I felt a little worse then normal so I didn't feel like I could wander around or fight anyone but for once I enjoyed doing nothing. It was extremely rare for my life to be quiet. While I was lying there I eventually fell asleep and slept peacefully until I woke up again. The sky was orange instead of blue and I knew that it was already sunset.

I sighed as I slowly sat up and tiredly rubbed my face with my hands while I tried to wake myself up enough to get back to the apartment and eat dinner before I went back to sleep. As the sky turned dark I stood up and walked out of the bushes into the main part of the park but I didn't have the chance to get very far and I stopped walking as I took in the sight in front of me.

There was a girl with long mint-green hair that was kept in a low ponytail by a red ribbon. She had thick bangs that went across her forehead and long side burns that hung loosely in front of her shoulders. Her outfit was a light blue Kimono over a red Haneri with a royal blue Obi sash tied around her waist and mint green shoes on her feet. She was a little taller then my four foot eight form and looked like she was about four foot ten. What really made her stand out though were her red eyes. There was something about them that drew me to her. They felt familiar somehow.

I could tell that something wasn't right as she frantically ran down the sidewalk on the other side of the road to get away from something or someone with fear in her eyes. When I looked down the sidewalk I noticed a group of people in the distance who were headed her way as they shouted at each other. I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach as I watched her but my concern over the girl made me go against my better judgment and I ran towards her. If she really was in trouble I wanted to help her out. Something told me that I needed to help her.

"H-Hey!" I shouted as I called out to her.

I was already exhausted due to my illness but the fact that I was now running made it a hundred times worse. It was becoming increasingly more difficult to chase after her.

"S-Stay away!" she shouted at me with fear in her voice as she tried to run a little faster to get away from me.

Those people, whoever they are, must be bad news. She's scared out of her mind.

"I'm not going to hurt you! I want to help!" I shouted back at her.

She finally looked back at me and her eyes widened in surprise when she realized that I was there instead of the people who were after her. I watched her as she looked forward again and the second she could she ran into a nearby alleyway. When I turned the corner I saw that she had finally stopped running but I continued to run as I approached her and grabbed her wrist to pull her forward as she looked at me in surprise again.

"We can stop after we get further into the alley. Those guys will find us if we stay here." I said tensely.

She hesitantly nodded her head as she let me pull her through the various twists and turns in the alley until we were far enough away from the area that I felt like it was safe to stop. I let go of her wrist and leaned my back against the brick wall that was at the back of one of the buildings and panted in exhaustion as drops of sweat trickled down my face.

"Are you alright?" she asked me with a concerned expression on her face.

I didn't answer her question and spoke up as I panted heavily while I fought to remain on my feet.

"I... I don't know who... you're running from... b-but you... you can stay at... my place for a while... if you want."

Once I began to feel dizzy I quickly closed my eyes to fight it off. It wouldn't do either of us any good if I fell unconscious now.

"What?" she asked in surprise.

"Let's try this way! They couldn't have gone too far!" I heard a man shout.

I made a sound of annoyance before I quickly grabbed her wrist and began to pull her towards the apartment as we used the alley for cover.

"Y-You can't! You'll be killed if you get involved!" she said in alarm.

"That's an even bigger... reason why... you need to come to the... apartment for cover. Whoever is... after you... sounds like trouble." I said as I panted in exhaustion while I continued to force myself to run forward.

Come on body don't give up on me now!

"Why are you trying to help me? I don't even know you!" she said with a perplexed expression on her face.

"You're... someone in need... and you look... so scared. That's more then... enough reason for me... to help you..." I said as I looked back at her with a weak smile on my lips.

To be honest, even I wasn't entirely sure why I became involved but there was no turning back now that I had.

She was silent as she let me pull her towards the apartment while she looked at me with a concerned expression on her face. I knew that she could tell that something was wrong with me. That's probably the only reason why she wasn't fighting me on the issue. It wasn't like I wasn't already involved anyway. The second I decided to run after her I became involved in whatever mess she was in. Whoever was after her already knew that I was trying to help her out.

For once I was actually grateful that I normally had nothing to do while I wandered around the city. As a result of my boredom I knew the alleyways like the back of my hand. It made it easy to stay in hiding and the fact that it was night increased our odds of escaping. I knew that the people were still pursuing us since I could hear them in the distance as they shouted at each other. I made sure to stop at each corner we came across to see if the coast was clear before I would let us run further through the alley. I didn't know how many people they had searching for her. It was better to be safe then sorry.

It took us a little while to get there since I was in bad shape and we had to be cautious but we did eventually make it over to the back of the apartment building. I stopped one last time at the side of the building and poked my head out to make sure that the coast was clear before I pulled her towards the entrance as I ran as fast as my legs would allow me. When we made it inside I continued to pull her forward until we made it up to the third floor of the building where the apartment room was and over to the door. I had no idea what time it really was but since it was dark I knew that I didn't have to worry about my mother being there. My hands shook as I panted in exhaustion and I quickly took my keys out my pocket and unlocked the door. Once I opened it she looked at the dark room wearily and I turned on the light to the living room.

"Go on, I'll shut the door behind us." I said to her.

She hesitantly nodded her head and walked into the apartment as I followed closely behind her. I quickly shut the door behind us and locked it and it wasn't until I felt like we were safely inside that I was able to let out a sigh of relief.

I turned around and looked at her for a few moments as she watched me carefully. A weak smile appeared on my lips as I took a few steps forward but before I could reach her my legs collapsed from underneath me and I fell to the floor with a loud thud. The stress that my body had just gone through had finally taken its toll and I had collapsed due to exhaustion.

The girl made a sound of alarm and ran over to my side as fast as she could. She placed her knees down onto the floor next to my right side and rolled me onto my back. She had an extremely concerned expression on her face as she wrapped her right arm around the back of my shoulders and used her strength to pull me up into a sitting position. I placed my head on her right shoulder since I couldn't hold it up on my own before she placed her left hand on my forehead as I panted tiredly.

"You have a really bad fever!" she said in alarm as she looked at me with wide eyes.

"I'll be fine. Just give me a little bit and I'll be able to stand back up again." I said weakly.

She hesitantly nodded her head and continued to look at me with a concerned expression on her face and she only seemed to become more worried as more time passed. About thirty minutes later I was able to support my own body and I stood up at the same time she did while she stayed next to me to make sure that I didn't fall again.

"Sorry about that. Are you hungry? I haven't had a chance to eat dinner yet so if you want I can also make you some." I said to her.

"Yes, please." she said softly.

"Alright, I'll be in the kitchen for a little bit if you need me." I said with a nod.

When I was finished cooking our dinner I walked out of the kitchen and saw her on the black leather couch in the living room with her back to me. She simply stared at the blank screen of the television. Her reflection from the glass screen of the television revealed the concerned expression that was still on her face as I walked over to her.

"You can watch some television if you want." I said to her as I placed the food onto the small table in front of the couch.

"No I'm fine. Thank you." she said politely.

We were silent as we ate but once we were finished I decided to speak again.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Yukina."

"Why were those people pursuing you?"

"I don't really think that you'd believe me if I told you the reason why. Besides, I think the less you know the better. I don't want you to be any more involved then you already are."

I hesitantly nodded my head in understanding.

"I guess I'll accept that answer. If you don't want to say then I won't push the issue and it's not like I could force it out of you anyway. You seem pretty determined not to tell me." I said with a weak smile.

After that I brought my right hand out for her to shake and spoke again as I introduced myself.

"I'm (First Name) (Last Name), nice to meet you Yukina."

She looked down at my hand in confusion and spoke after a few moments.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"You're supposed to shake my hand." I said as I gave her a deadpanned expression.

"Shake your hand?" she asked me in confusion.

Did this girl live underneath a rock?

I raised my eyebrow as I looked at her before I decided to grab her right hand and forced it into mine and shook it.

"Nice to meet you Yukina." I said with a small smile as she blinked at our joined hands in confusion.

A light blush appeared on her cheeks before she spoke softly.

"N-Nice to meet you, (Name)-san." she said politely.

"I'll show you the apartment. You're going to be living in it for a little while after all." I said as I stood up.

She hesitantly nodded her head before I showed her around the apartment.

"And lastly this is my room. I'll let you use my bed since you're a guest here. I'll be fine on the couch."

"Thank you." she said to me before she bowed to me gratefully.

A small smile appeared on my lips and I nodded my head.

"Your welcome."

After that I decided to get ready for bed and let her borrow a pair of black loose fitting sweat pants and a loose royal blue t-shirt for the night before we both headed to bed.

The next morning I fell from the couch and said some very colorful words as I fought to open my eyes. When I was able to get up from the floor I looked over at the clock that was hanging on the wall and a frown appeared on my lips. I only had fifteen minutes to get ready for school.

As quickly as I could I made it to my room and I saw that Yukina was already awake and was once again wearing her Kimono. She was sitting on the chair at the small desk in my room as she looked up at the blue sky from the window.

"Good morning Yukina." I said to her with exhaustion clear in my voice.

"Good morning (Name)-san." she said as she stood up and bowed to me politely.

"You don't have to bow." I said a little embarrassed as I grabbed my school uniform.

I headed over to my bathroom before I did my usual morning routine as quickly as I could. When I walked back into the room I spoke to her as I walked over to her.

"I don't want you to leave this room until I come back, okay? Luckily there's a bathroom connected to this room so you won't have any issues there. Unfortunately, I can't make you lunch ahead of time since I'm already pressed for time. I won't be home until the sun has gone down."

After that I opened one of the drawers in my desk and pulled out some headphones.

"In the mean time I want you to wear these." I said as I handed them to her.

She looked at them in confusion as I plugged them into the stereo next to the desk.

"What are they?" she asked.

"You don't know what headphones are?" I asked her with a perplexed expression on my face.

"No." she said as she shook her head.

I wanted to question her about it but I knew that it would have to wait until later and spoke again.

"Place those over your ears and don't take them off for any reason other then to go to the bathroom. I'll adjust the sound and you tell me if it's too loud or not okay?"

She looked at me in confusion as she nodded her head and silently did as I asked. I turned on the stereo and turned the dial up little by little until she spoke.

"It's a little too loud." she said.

I quickly turned it down a notch and spoke.

"How's that?"

"What?" she asked as she took them off.

A grin appeared on my face as I spoke.

"It looks like the sound is perfect. I'll signal that I'm here by kicking the breaker for the apartment room. I want you to turn the lights on in this room when it's dark. All the lights will turn off and then come back on three times to indicate that I'm here. Make sure not to turn the lights on any sooner then that."

She nodded her head to tell me that she understood but I could tell that she was extremely confused.

"All right, as soon as I close the door put them back on. I'm going to lock the door so make sure to keep it locked and don't open it even if you hear something on the other side of the door until I come back. I'll be back later." I said as I headed towards the door to the room and locked it.

"Okay." she said as she blinked at me in confusion.

"See you later." I said with a wave before I shut the door securely behind me and headed to the front door of the apartment.

Once I was outside of the apartment building I headed towards the train station and looked around at the blurry objects that were flying around in droves. They were quite a bit clearer then before. I could make out their general shape and if I wasn't mistaken they looked like some sort of strange bug.

When I made it over to Meiou High School everything was the same. Everyone gossiped about my seemingly eternal hickey, I had to fight Togashi's gang during lunch, and Minamino silently watched over me in concern. He had given up on voicing his opinions on the subject since I always brushed him off and told him that I was fine and that all I needed was a little more rest. After school I hid in my new secret spot in the park until the sun went down and then I finally headed back to the apartment to do my homework, eat, and then go to sleep.

The moment I made it back to the dark apartment I turned on the light in the living room and walked over to the breaker before I turned it on and off three times to signal to Yukina that I was back. A few moments later Yukina unlocked the door to my room and opened it before I waved to her in greeting.

"Hey, how are you? Nothing happened while you were here right?" I asked.

"No, nothing happened."

"Good. I'll go make us some dinner. I'm sure that you're starving since I didn't make you lunch."

We ate dinner together in silence and then I worked on my homework as she silently observed me. After that we both fell asleep in the same places as the night before.


	3. Chapter 3: Yukina's Attempted Capture

**A/N:**

This is a disclaimer. I own nothing except for my characters! All other characters belong to the creator of Yu Yu Hakusho! Please do not repost this story without my permission.

Any constructive criticism is welcome. Tell me what you think.

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Yukina's Attempted Capture**

The strange bugs flew around the city as I headed to the apartment after another long week of school. Two months have passed since the first time I noticed the bugs and I was unfortunate enough to be able to see them clearly now. One would occasionally try to bite me as I walked down the sidewalk but I killed any that attempted to before they could reach me and tried my best to ignore the fact that I had bug guts on my hand. To be honest, the whole situation freaked me out. The very fact that there were strange bugs all over the place made me shudder. No one else seemed to notice them despite the fact that they were flying all over the place. I couldn't help but find them lucky to be completely oblivious to the whole situation that was going on all around them.

Once I stepped through the door of the apartment I turned on the lights to the living room with my clean hand and then headed to the bathroom to wash my hands. I looked at myself through the reflection in the mirror and a frown appeared on my lips. My cheeks were flushed, I had dark circles under my eyes like I hadn't been sleeping, the bug bite on my neck was still extremely red and swollen, and my skin was a little paler then normal.

The rumors at school were still going strong due to my condition and much to my annoyance there have been several guys that have asked me to sleep with them so they could have some experience. That, of course, resulted in me threatening them within an inch of their lives and they left me alone only to be replaced by someone else. The very thought of it pissed me off. If I had the strength I would threaten everyone that talked about me so the rumors would stop or, at the very least, I wouldn't have to hear about them. The only one that seemed to believe that the rumors weren't true was Minamino. There was a reason he was the smartest person in the school. He had smarts and common sense.

When I was finished washing my hands I walked back into the living room and headed over to the breaker before I turned if off three times. As Yukina opened the door to my room I walked over to the living room couch to sit down.

"Hello (Name)-san." Yukina said with a smile as I sat down.

"Hello Yukina." I said with a small smile as she walked over to me.

It was still a little strange for me to actually have someone to come home to but it wasn't entirely unwelcome. She has officially been living in the apartment for a month and I've grown accustomed to having her around. I hadn't run into any problems with her staying here despite the fact that she was being pursued. Those guys seemed to drop off the face of the planet after that night. However, I felt bad for her since she was basically a prisoner in the apartment. She couldn't leave out of fear that she would be found. But she never complained about it. She seemed to be more concerned about me then anything since I was ill. It felt strange to have someone worry about me. It made me feel strangely happy.

I still hadn't figured out why those people were after the poor girl. As far as I could tell she didn't seem like the type to get involved in dangerous stuff. To be honest, she was the complete opposite of me. She was extremely kind and soft spoken. The fact that these people were after her didn't sit right with me. It was obvious that she was the victim in all of this. It made me want to make sure to keep her out of harms way and out of their hands. I felt strangely protective of her and deep down I considered her to be a friend even if I didn't know much about her.

"How was your day?" she asked me as she sat down next to me on the couch.

"It was just like usual. Everyone seems to think that I'm sleeping with some dangerous guy from the Yakuza and what not or they seem to think that I'm willing to sleep around and guys keep asking me if I'll sleep with them to give them experience." I muttered with a little annoyance in my voice.

"Why would they think that?" she asked.

"I don't have the best reputation." I said with a sheepish smile on my lips.

A look of confusion appeared on her face but I decided to change the subject as I sighed and rested my back against the couch. I didn't really want to talk to her about it. Not everyone needs to know about all the crap I've done.

"I'm happy it's the weekend. The second I'm done with my homework I can do whatever I want without a care in the world. I'll probably spend most of it sleeping though. That's all I really want to do."

"(Name)-san are you sure that you shouldn't go to the doctor? You still look extremely sick." Yukina said as she looked at me with a worried expression on her face.

"I'll be all right. I just need a little more rest that's all." I said with a small smile on my lips as I looked at her.

She didn't look convinced as she continued to look at me in concern but she didn't say anything else since she knew that she couldn't talk me into going to the doctor. It wasn't like she hadn't already tried. Even if I did have the means to go though I had a feeling that they couldn't do anything about it. I had a strong hunch that my bug bite, my illness, and the strange bugs that had been invisible until I had been bitten were all connected. I wasn't sure if the doctors would really know what to do for me if that was the case. The bugs didn't really seem like they belonged here. I know for a fact that they didn't look like any I had ever seen. I'd just have to wait it out and rest until I was better.

"Are you hungry? I can make us some dinner." I offered.

"Can I help?" she asked.

"If you want." I said with a nod as I stood up.

When dinner was finished cooking we brought it into the living room and sat down on the couch and ate together in silence. It wasn't like it was an awkward silence it was just that there wasn't really a need to talk. I gathered up our dishes once we were done eating and headed back into the kitchen to wash them while she stayed in the living room. Once they were washed and dried I placed them back where I found them and grabbed a couple of ice cream sandwiches from the freezer for us to eat. I sat down the moment I made it over to the couch in the living room and turned on the television so we could watch something together since I wasn't in the mood to start my homework yet.

"Here." I said as I gave her the ice cream sandwich.

She looked at it in confusion and spoke.

"What is it?"

I looked over at her and blinked before I spoke in confusion.

"You don't know what an ice cream sandwich is?"

She silently shook her head before I spoke.

"Did you live under a rock?" I asked bluntly with an incredulous look on my face.

A small, sheepish, smile appeared on her lips as she blushed in embarrassment before I spoke once again.

"Unwrap it and have a taste. You won't be disappointed. It's my favorite dessert." I said encouragingly.

I watched her as she took it out of the wrapper and she took a small bite out of it before her eyes widened in surprise.

"It's sweet and yet cold." she said.

"That's ice cream. Do you like it?" I asked.

"Yes!" she said with a bright smile.

I nodded my head with a small smile on my lips before we ate our ice cream and watched television in silence. She really was a strange girl. How can someone not know about ice cream?

"Yukina?" I asked as a thought occurred to me.

"What?" she asked.

"If you haven't heard of an ice cream sandwich does that mean that you haven't heard of Disney?"

"What's a Disney?"

"You mean you really haven't?!" I shouted in shock.

She shook her head as she looked at me in surprise because of my outburst.

"All right then, I'll have to show you one of my favorites of all time." I said as I stood up and walked over to the video cabinet.

A grin appeared on my lips as I grabbed (Favorite Disney Film) and then headed over to the television to put it in the VHS player. That was the start of our Disney marathon that went until we couldn't stay up any longer and my homework was long forgotten.

The next morning I changed into a pair of blue jean shorts, a black belt, a black sleeveless t-shirt, and sneakers before I left the apartment. My routine was the same as the other weekends since I had become ill. I went to the park and I walked over to my hidden area of grass to sleep. When I made it there a look of disgust appeared on my face when I noticed a pair of panties and a bra on the ground.

"Son of a…! Why in the hell would people do that kind of thing in the park?! Bunch of perverts!" I shouted out annoyed with a blush on my cheeks.

For very obvious reasons I felt like I couldn't nap there anymore and started to search for another area until I found another hidden spot, free of underwear, and lied down on the grass before I fell asleep.

By the time I woke up again it was already dark outside and a tired sigh escaped my lips as I sat up and rubbed my face with my hands. The movie marathon from last night must have really taken its toll on me. I couldn't stop myself from having one though. It's not everyday that you run into someone who doesn't know what Disney is.

I forced myself to stand up even though I was extremely groggy and then made my way to the apartment. Yukina would be worried about me if I didn't hurry back. She was used to me already being there by now.

When I stepped onto the third floor of the building a frown appeared on my lips as I noticed that the door of the apartment was already open. I paused when I heard an extremely loud crash and Yukina screamed out in alarm. My body tensed up as I thought of the people that were after her and I ran down the hallway. I stopped at the edge of the doorway and looked out from the corner to see inside of the room in order to assess the situation.

There were seven large men inside of the dark living room who were holding guns. They had on black suits, black ties, white buttoned up shirts, and sunglasses over their eyes. Even if I could fight, I knew that there was nothing that I could do against seven large men with guns. It would be suicide.

Two of them marched into my room and pulled Yukina out of it as she struggled to break free from their grasp.

"No! Let me go!" Yukina yelled out.

"You've already put us through enough trouble as it is during the last month Ice Apparition. It's time for you to come with us." one of the men said.

Ice Apparition?

"I want one of you to stay behind and kill whoever it was that helped her out. We don't know how much they know about the situation." the same man ordered.

"Yes!" one of the men said as he volunteered for the job.

"No! Please don't! She doesn't know anything!" Yukina begged.

No one listened to her plea as the other six men headed in my direction and I immediately looked around to find a place to hide. Hiding would be the only chance I had to survive since they probably wouldn't like the fact that I was around to see what was going on. They'd take me out just because I was here. I'd have to come up with something later to deal with them though if I wanted to save Yukina. I also have to get that guy out of the apartment. If I left him in there he'd end up killing my mother when she came home.

When I spotted the janitor's closet I ran over to it and hid inside. I placed my ear against the door in order to listen to their footsteps and Yukina's pleas as she begged for them to reconsider leaving the man there. Yukina's voice eventually became distant and I knew that they had made it to the stairway. I waited a few more moments and then slowly stepped out of the closet and into the hallway. The man that stayed behind remained inside of the apartment and had already shut the door in order to make it look like nothing strange was going on.

"What a sneaky bastard." I said to myself softly with a smirk.

I was caught between following Yukina's captors and dealing with the guy inside of the apartment since I knew that I had to deal with him anyway.

"Sorry Yukina. Try to stop them from taking you for a little bit until I can reach you." I said softly to myself as I made my decision.

I turned around and looked inside of the large closet to see if I could find anything to use as I tried to come up with a plan and grabbed a wooden broomstick. It was the best that I could do at the moment.

When I made it over to the door of the apartment I tried to think of a way to deal with the man inside. At the moment I was at a great disadvantage. He'd know exactly where I was when I opened the door but I wouldn't know where he was. Then there was the fact that he had a gun and I only had a broomstick at my disposal. He'd be able to attack me long before I could reach him. I couldn't just charge in without thinking.

My mind continued to race as I took out my key and I stared at the door tensely. I couldn't afford to hesitate for too much longer. If I did there was a chance that Yukina would be taken away before I could try to help her. There was nothing else I could do but hope for the best.

I unlocked the door and then heard his gun go off several times before I even opened it. My reflexes kicked in and I moved over to the left of the door to avoid the attack as I hid behind the wall while my heart raced in my chest. The bullets went right through the wooden door and planted themselves into the wall that was straight across the hallway. I placed my back flush against the wall and waited for him to come out to see the damage that he had done while I held the broomstick tightly in my hands. When I saw the door open I quickly moved out in front of him and his eyes widened in surprise.

"Wha-?!" he said in surprise as I raised the broomstick over my head and slammed it down on top of his head as hard as I could.

He fell back onto the floor unconscious with a loud thud and I looked down at him from the doorway as I smirked.

"Take that you bastard." I said.

I crouched down and took his gun away so he wouldn't be able to use it against me again in case he woke up. After that I tried to figure out what to do with him. He wouldn't stay unconscious forever and I couldn't keep him in here. He'd try to attack my mother if I did.

My thoughts went back to the janitor's closet and I ran over to it to look at what was inside. A smirk appeared on my lips as my eyes landed on some rope. I ran back over to the apartment and pulled him by his ankles into the janitor's closet. As soon as he was in the center of the large closet I tied his arms together behind his back and then tied his legs together before I decided to bring his feet up to his wrists and tied the two sections of rope together so he'd have no chance of escaping on his own. There was no way that I was going to take the chance that he would attack me when I least expected it. Just because he didn't have a gun doesn't mean that he wouldn't be able to cause me trouble.

After I was sure that he was tied up properly I ran down the stairs. Once I reached the bottom of them I placed my back against the wall and looked around the corner to make sure that the coast was clear. I couldn't see the men or Yukina and I felt worried that I was already too late to help her as I ran over to the entrance to look around for them.

"Let me go!" I heard Yukina scream out.

A relieved sigh escaped my lips since I knew she was still here as I looked out from the corner of the wall to see what was going on.

They were headed over to two large black vans that had tinted windows which were located at the far right side of the building as the men looked around to make sure that no one was watching them. One of the men turned to look in my direction and I quickly moved my head behind the wall as I placed my back flush against it before I scanned the street as I tried to come up with a solution to get Yukina out of this mess. My eyes landed on a hoodless car a little ways away as I heard her continue to struggle with all her might while they pulled her towards the vans. A frown appeared on my lips and I knew that I didn't have much of a choice but to try to steal the car if I wanted to save her.

I ran back up the stairs to the third floor as I panted tiredly and ran into the apartment to grab a few pocket knives and duct tape. My heart raced in my chest once again since I knew that if I didn't hurry Yukina would be taken away before I could even acquire the car. If she was then I would have absolutely no chance of helping her.

When I had everything that I needed I ran towards the exit of the room and made sure to grab the broomstick just in case I needed it for anything else. I headed back over to the closet and saw that the man was awake before I smirked at him.

"Hello."

"Why you...!" he shouted angrily.

"I'm not the one shooting at people. If anyone should be angry it's me. You bastards tried to kill me and now you're trying to take Yukina away as we speak. In any case, now that you're in here I can't have the janitor rescue you for a little while so I'm going to have to knock you out again. He won't be up here until tomorrow. I don't need you to get in the way."

I hit him on the head with the broomstick again and he fell unconscious. I grabbed a cloth that was inside of the closet and tied it around his mouth to prevent anyone from being able to hear him when he tried to tell someone that he was in here after he woke up. As I looked around the closet I decided to grab a bucket and placed some rope, a hammer, some wrenches, the gun I had obtained, my pocket knives, and duct tape inside. At this point it was obvious that these guys were dangerous. I needed everything that I could get my hands on if I was going to be able to deal with them.

After I had obtained everything that I felt like could be of use I ran down the stairs and back to the entrance as fast as I could. I saw Yukina was still struggling against her captors as she fought them tooth and nail when they tried to throw her into the van. Thankfully she's stubborn. If she wasn't I wouldn't have been able to deal with that guy and also grab all of the supplies that I needed to help her. It would have taken me too much time.

The men were all occupied by her as she continued to struggle against them and I bolted out of the building while they weren't looking in my direction. I used the darkness and the cars in the area as cover as I made my way over to the hoodless car that I had spotted earlier while I panted tiredly. It wasn't exactly easy to run around in my condition.

As soon as I made it over to the car I made sure the men weren't looking and quickly placed the bucket of items onto the floor in front of the passenger seat and the broomstick in the back seat. When I was ready to climb inside of the car I checked to make sure that they weren't looking over in my direction again and then climbed inside. I grabbed a pocket knife and the duct tape from the bucket and then crawled over to the driver's seat and quickly worked my magic as I hotwired the car so I could use it. When I was set I turned on the car and waited until one of the vans drove off and frowned as I looked back and realized that two of the guys stayed back to probably wait for the guy that I had just knocked out.

I decided that I had to do something and grabbed the gun that I had obtained and aimed it at one of the two men. If I didn't do something to them there was a good chance that they would end up killing my mother. I shot at the one and hit his leg causing him to yell out in pain as he fell to the ground before I repeated the action as the other man looked around frantically. With both of them wounded I finally felt like I could drive off and quickly drove out of the parking spot as I made my get away and followed the van with Yukina inside of it.

I kept a little distance between my car and the van as I followed them and looked down at the gas gauge. A sigh of relief came from my lips when I saw that the car had a full tank of gas. Most of my worries were laid to rest except for the fact that I was a little worried about the three men that were still at the apartment. I had a feeling that I didn't have to worry about them doing anything to my mother anymore but there was no telling when the one in the closet would be let out and when they would start following us. Hopefully it wouldn't be for a long time. If the three of them were out of the way then I would only have to worry about the four guys that were with Yukina. My odds of survival were still slim but I had a lot better chance especially now that I had a gun of my own. No matter what I was going to get Yukina back.

"Yukina, I'm coming. Don't worry. I'll get you out of this mess." I said to myself with determination on my face.

I pushed my thoughts to the side and decided that I needed to focus on following them and made sure not to follow too closely since I knew that they would realize that I was pursuing them if I did.

After an extremely long road trip we made it to a dirt road that led into the middle of the forest of Mt. Honetadare as the sun was getting ready to rise up into the sky. I looked down at the gas gauge with a tense look on my face since I knew that I was almost out of gas. I had enough that Yukina and I could make our escape when I figured out how to help her but it was after that I wasn't sure what to do. We wouldn't be able to make it to a town before we ran out and would have to walk on foot. The only lucky thing about the situation was the fact that I knew that my vehicle was probably better off then theirs since they had eight cylinders and mine had six. I'd been making sure to baby the car all the way here since I was worried about the gas after I realized that we were headed to the middle of no where.

As we drove through the forest I made sure to keep my headlights turned off. If I turned them on there's absolutely no way that they wouldn't spot me. It would be very obvious that I was following them since we were in the middle of no where.

When the sun rose into the sky I tried as best as I could to stay back now that we were on a single lane dirt road but I didn't want to risk the chance that there was a fork in the pathway so I made sure to keep an eye on them. There had already been plenty of forks in the road so it made me paranoid. However, my luck was too good to last. Eventually we came to a long section of road that was completely straight and I knew that there was no way they wouldn't realize that I was following them. My eyes widened in alarm when I saw a few of them poke their heads out and aim their guns at me.

"Shit!" I shouted.

I swerved the car in order to avoid getting hit but I knew that I had to retaliate. As they shot at me I grabbed for the gun that was in the front seat before I aimed it at them and shot back.

"I bet you weren't expecting that were you, you bastards! You're not the only ones that can shoot a gun!" I shouted at the top of my lungs as I shot another bullet.

I finally made contact and hit one of the men in the hand and he dropped his gun onto the ground as we continued to drive forward. There were now only three men that I had to worry about and luckily the one had to focus on driving.

As I dodged their bullets I looked at them tensely while I tried to come up with a plan. I couldn't let them make it to their destination. If they made it there I might have to deal with even more of these guys.

I noticed the traces of a building in the distance as they continued to shoot at me and I made a sound of annoyance. I couldn't afford to hold back at this point. It was either me or them. I had to stop them somehow before they reached the building.

A plan came to my mind and I aimed my gun at the tires of the van and blew out the right one at the back. It swerved as the driver fought to keep control of the vehicle before I decided to shoot out the other back tire and it swerved again. After that I pushed on the gas and sped the car up until I was able to slam into the left corner of the van. The collision was enough to force the van off the dirt road and it crashed into a nearby tree.

I slammed my foot on the breaks to stop the car as my heart raced in my chest.

"Please be safe Yukina." I said tensely as I climbed out of the car and headed over to the van as fast as I could.

I still had the gun in my hand as I made it over to the side of the van to make sure that none of the men were going to attack me. After I made it to the front I cringed at the sight of the blood. It was obvious that the men in the front of the van were dead due to the impact. The front of it was completely smashed in. As I looked over at the two men that were in the back seat I saw that they were unconscious and in critical condition since they hadn't been wearing their seatbelts.

Now that I knew it was safe I ran to the back of the van. I tried to open the doors but I realized that they were locked and cursed under my breath. There were two large windows at the back of the van and I headed over to the car to grab the hammer that I had obtained.

"Yukina if you're all right I want you to close your eyes and don't move! You'll be cut by the glass if you do!" I shouted after I made it back over to the van.

I waited a few moments so she could do as I asked before I raised the hammer into the air and smashed it into the right window as hard as I could. When I could get my arm through the window without getting hurt I climbed onto the back of the van and put my right arm inside before I opened the door from the handle. I jumped back down onto the ground as the door opened and I looked inside as I opened the other door. Yukina was lying on the floor of the van with her hands and feet tied together and a red piece of cloth over her mouth to keep her quiet. She was the only one who had managed to get out of the accident unscathed.

"Yukina!" I shouted out in relief as she looked at me with wide eyes.

I quickly climbed into the back of the van and walked over to her. The second I made it over to her I crouched down and untied the ropes that were around her ankles and wrists and then took off the cloth that was around her mouth.

"What are you doing here?!" she shouted in alarm and yet also relief.

"What does it look like? I'm here to rescue you of course." I said with a grin as I pointed to myself.

"You're only going to get yourself killed!"

"It's not like I exactly have anything to lose if I die. I don't really think anyone would miss me anyway. Besides, I've already been shot at so even if you don't want me to be put in danger I already am." I said with a shrug.

She looked at me with an unreadable expression on her face before I noticed a gas can at the back of the van. I grabbed it to see if there was gas in it before a smirk appeared on my lips as the liquid swished inside.

"Yes!"

I grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of the van and over to the car. The moment I could I threw the hammer into the back seat with the broomstick. I opened the front passenger door and moved the bucket of extra supplies to the back seat. There was no telling if I would need the gun again so I handed it over to her before I looked over at the guys in the van and decided to grab their guns just in case I needed them for anything. I had her sit down in the front passenger seat before I handed the rest of the guns to her and spoke with a serious expression on my face as I pointed at the trigger.

"Don't touch this area and make sure not to get it caught on anything. I don't want you to accidentally get hurt because you pulled the trigger."

"O-Okay." she said hesitantly.

I quickly walked over to the side of the car and opened the gas tank to put my newly acquired gas inside of it before I discarded the gas can onto the ground and sat down in the driver's seat. When I looked down at the gas gauge I saw that we had a fourth of a tank and sighed in relief.

"It looks like we'll be able to make it to the next town. After that we can figure out what to do to get back to Mushiyori City."

She nodded her head before I helped her buckle into her seat and then I buckled myself in.

"There they are! Attack the girl but make sure not to hurt the Ice Apparition!" I heard a man shout.

I immediately looked forward and my eyes widened in shock when I noticed a group of men running towards us as they jumped out of their van that looked identical to the other ones. They had the same outfits as the guys that I had just taken care of and their guns were pointed at us.

"Shit!" I said tensely.

I put the car into reverse as they started to shoot at us and pushed on the gas. So they wouldn't be able to follow us I grabbed one of the guns in Yukina's possession and aimed it at the front tires of their van before I blew them out. When we were finally out of shooting range I turned the car around as fast as I could and put the car in drive before I pushed on the gas once again and we were finally able to make our escape.

Once we made it to the main road I continued to occasionally look through the rear view mirror to make sure that no one was following us as we headed to the nearest town. I couldn't afford to let my guard down for even a second. It would make it easier for them to kill me and take her away.

"You're wrong you know." Yukina said after a few minutes.

"What?" I asked her in confusion.

"You're wrong about no one missing you."

I looked over at her from the corner of my eye with a perplexed look on my face.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I'd miss you."

A look of surprise appeared on my face as I looked at her with wide eyes. Warmth filled my chest and I quickly looked back at the road. I couldn't stop the small smile that appeared on my lips before I spoke.

"You really are something Yukina."

It felt strange for someone to care for me like she did but it wasn't unwelcome. It made me happy. For the first time in a long time I genuinely felt happy.

I focused on reaching the next town that was situated at the bottom of the mountain. If we could get there we'd have a better chance of escaping. From there I planned on getting another ride back to Mushiyori City but after that I'd have to figure out what to do. They knew where I lived so taking Yukina back there wasn't an option. They'd just come back and next time we might not be so lucky.

After we made it into the town I looked around for a place to drop the car off. I found a parking lot that was in front of one of the businesses and parked the car there with the intention of abandoning it. All of the men that were after us knew what the car looked like. It wouldn't be hard for them to spot us. I also knew that I had to obtain another one so we could get one that had more gas. We couldn't make it back to Mushiyori City with the one we had and I didn't have any money.

The moment I stopped the car I climbed out of it and walked over to the passenger side to take the guns away from Yukina. I placed them inside of the bucket along with the hammer before I grabbed the broomstick.

"Come on, we need to get as far away from this car as possible." I said to her as she climbed out of the car.

We stayed in the alleyways until it was night time and I decided that I could try to find another car to steal. When I was finally able to spot another hoodless car I pulled her over to it as I ran across the street before I handed her the bucket and broomstick. Yukina blinked at me as I climbed inside of it with a pocket knife and my duct tape and hotwired it. Once I sat down in the driver's seat I turned it on and saw that the car had half a tank of gas. I did a few mental calculations before I spoke to her.

"Get in. We'll be able to get half way to Mushiyori City on half a tank of gas if I baby this thing."

She blinked at me and hesitantly nodded her head before I grabbed the broomstick and placed it in the back seat as she sat down in the front passenger seat and placed the bucket in her lap. We buckled ourselves into our seats and then drove off in another newly acquired car as I looked around for any black vans that could be after us.

"U-Um... (Name)-san?" Yukina asked me hesitantly.

"What?" I asked as we made it onto the freeway.

"Isn't this stealing?"

"Technically speaking yes but I like to think of it as temporarily borrowing it. It's not like I've actually done any damage to the cars, well too much anyway. Besides, we don't really have a choice in the matter. I don't have any money on me to pay for a bus ride to Mushiyori City and we need to get away from here as fast as we can."

If I could I'd like to take a nap. I'm exhausted and I'm a little hungry too. However, the only thing that I could focus on right now was making sure that she was safe. I knew that we still weren't in the clear. The man at the hotel building can still come after us once the janitor gets him out of the closet and the other men that found us earlier can also pursue us. Whoever it was that was after Yukina seemed to have a lot of men underneath them to do their bidding.

When we made it halfway back to Mushiyori City I looked around for another car and we stole it like the others before we were finally able to reach our destination the next day. The sun rose into the sky as we made it back to the apartment before I climbed out of the car.

"Come on. We need to try to get our hands on some money and disguise ourselves. It'll be easier to get around if no one recognizes us."

She nodded her head before she and I ran over to the side of the building while she held the bucket of things and I held the broomstick. I looked around the corner and notice the van was no where in sight. However, I didn't want to risk it.

"Yukina, I want you to stay back. If those two men are still here along with the other guy I don't want you to get in the middle of it."

"What about you?" she asked me in concern.

"I'll figure something out if they try to attack me. I don't know if the men that were stationed out here saw who I was. The other man, however, is a different story. He'd definitely remember me and they'd obviously recognize you. Just stay back until I tell you that it's safe."

She hesitantly nodded her head and I gave her the broomstick and spoke again.

"If you need to defend yourself use this to smack them in the heads or these wrenches to hit them. It'll be easy for you to knock them out."

"O-Okay." she said hesitantly.

I grabbed my pocket knives and placed them inside of my pockets and placed one of the guns at the back of my belt and held one in each hand. When I was sure that I was ready I slowly headed over to the other side of the building. If those guys were still here I didn't want to risk them sneaking up behind us.

When I made it over to the other side I placed my back against the wall and looked around the corner. A sigh escaped my lips when I saw that they weren't there before I ran back over to the entrance and looked around inside and outside of the building. Once I deemed it safe I waved her over and she ran over to me as fast as she could and we headed inside. I was still extremely on edge so I continued to look around as we slowly made our way up to the third floor.

"I want you to stay here for a moment. I need to check the closet. If they're still here I don't want to risk you being hurt." I said to her softly as I looked at the janitor's closet.

She nodded her head before I slowly made my way over to the closet. I placed one of my guns at the back of my belt with the other one before I grabbed the handle of the door and flung it open as I moved as fast as I could over to the side to hide behind the wall for cover. When I didn't hear anything I hesitantly poked my head around the corner of the doorway and found out that it was empty. After that I closed the door and waved her over.

"I want you to stay here until I know that we can step into the apartment." I said to her softly once she made it over to me.

She nodded her head once again in understanding before I slowly walked over to the door of the apartment. A tense expression appeared on my face while I mentally prepared for the possibility that someone could still be inside to shoot at me. I pulled out the key and unlocked the door before I quickly moved to the right.

When I didn't hear anything I motioned for Yukina to stay put and looked around the edge of the doorway to see if I could find anyone. I still didn't want to risk it and ducked down as I poked my head further into the room. No one was inside as far as I could tell but I didn't know about behind the door. I stood up and decided to kick the door as hard as I could to test out if there was someone behind it but it slammed directly into the wall. A sigh escaped my lips but I still felt tense as I spoke.

"Yukina, you can come in just stay close to me. If there is someone in here I don't want to give them a chance to take you again." I said as I waved her over.

"Okay." she said softly before she ran over to me.

I shut the door behind us and locked it before we walked towards my room.

It's been a long time since I've felt this tense.

I made sure that no one was inside of it or the bathroom before I let her step inside.

"I want you to hide inside of the bathroom and lock the door until I can check the rest of the apartment. I'll tap on the door four times to tell you that it's safe." I said softly.

She looked at me and nodded her head before she did as I asked.

I took one of the guns that was at the back of my belt and held it in my left hand. It was better to be safe then sorry. If someone was really here then it'd be best if I had as much weaponry as possible.

I slowly walked forward and went into my mother's room and looked around before I walked into the bathroom on the other side of the hallway and repeated the action. The only room that I had left to check was the kitchen and I walked over to it and hesitantly stepped inside only to find that it was also empty. A sigh escaped my lips and I headed back into my room and tapped on the bathroom door four times.

Yukina opened the door before I spoke.

"It's safe in here."

A sigh of relief came from her lips before I placed all of the guns that I had in my possession in the bucket. I opened my closet and took out a duffle bag and stuffed some clothes inside of it for us. When I was finished I grabbed a pair of jean pants and a black t-shirt and extended them out to Yukina.

"Change into these. If you're wearing that it'll be easy to recognize you."

She walked into the bathroom and came out in the new outfit and I stuffed her old clothes inside of the duffle bag. As I looked around my closet again I spotted a couple of hats on the top shelf. I grabbed them and stuffed my hair inside of one as I put it on.

"Put this on and stuff your hair inside. We'll wear these until I can buy us some better disguises." I said to her as I extended the other hat out to her.

She did as I asked without a word. I walked back into my mother's room and located the safe where all the money was and inspected it to see how I could break into it. A sigh escaped my lips as I stood up and headed into my room and grabbed a large sock. I looked around inside of my closet before I located an old, large, neodymium magnet that I had and placed it inside of the sock since I knew how powerful the magnet was. I headed back into my mother's room and crouched down in front of the safe before I placed the sock against the door and the magnet latched onto the metal with ease. It didn't take me long to locate the nickel solenoid as I moved the sock around and the door to the safe opened up as the locking mechanism activated.

"(Name)-san what are you doing?" Yukina asked me in confusion as I took most of the money.

All I left was enough money for my mother to pay the rent.

"I'm stealing some money. We'll need some to stay somewhere for a little bit and to buy some stuff to disguise ourselves." I said as I walked over to Yukina and stuffed the money inside of the duffle bag.

I walked into the kitchen and took as much food as I could before I stuffed it inside of the bag as well.

"All right, let's go before my mother comes back. We don't have much time." I said.

We headed down the stairs of the building and walked back over to the car. I placed everything but the bucket in the back seat as Yukina sat down in the front passenger seat and buckled herself in before I handed her the bucket and climbed into the driver's seat and buckled myself in. When I felt like we were ready I drove out of the parking spot and saw my mother as she walked down the sidewalk while talking to a man.

Goodbye mother...

I drove us out of Mushiyori City and headed in the opposite direction of Mt. Honetadare. Once I felt like I couldn't drive any further I stopped in a small town that was a day away from Mushiyori. The further away we get from the city the better.

When I could I booked us a room and placed our things inside of it before I took off my hat and crashed down onto the left side of the queen sized bed.

"I'm going to take a nap Yukina. This is the longest that I've been awake." I muttered with my eyes closed.

"Okay..." Yukina said softly.

She was silent for a few moments before she spoke again.

"(Name)-san?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

"No problem." I said with a tired smile before I finally fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4: The Toguro Brothers

**A/N:**

This is a disclaimer. I own nothing except for my characters! All other characters belong to the creator of Yu Yu Hakusho! Please do not repost this story without my permission.

Any constructive criticism is welcome. Tell me what you think.

* * *

 **Chapter 4: The Toguro Brothers**

There was no doubt in my mind that I was in a lot worse condition when I woke up. I felt extremely weak and my body felt even heavier then before. Yukina placed a wet cloth on my forehead to cool it off and I flinched due to the coolness of the water on my warm skin. She had an extremely concerned expression on her face and there were dark circles under her eyes indicating that she hadn't been sleeping.

At some point she had changed back into her Kimono but it didn't surprise me. She seemed to like to wear it more then anything else that I've given her. That's why I shoved it into the duffle bag when she gave it to me. I knew that she loved to wear it.

When I tried to sit up she grabbed my shoulders and forced me to lie back down onto the bed.

"Stay in bed. You're not in good enough condition to move around too much." she said with worry in her eyes.

I couldn't really argue with her on that point...

"What time is it?" I asked weakly as I sighed and placed my head back down onto the pillow.

"It's ten at night."

"I've been asleep all day?" I asked her as my eyes widened in surprise.

"You pushed yourself too hard when you fought to save me from those men. You've been asleep for the last three days."

I cursed under my breath and tried to sit up again but she quickly grabbed my shoulders and forced me to stay where I was.

"You need more rest. We can worry about everything after you're better." she said with a hint of authority in her voice.

"We don't have time to wait for that. I've already been sick for two months."

She was silent for a few moments as she looked at me with wide eyes until she finally found her voice as she spoke out in alarm.

"You've been sick for that long?"

"I'll be fine. Right now we need to focus on moving to another location. We've already stayed here for more time then I was anticipating. They'll be able to track us down if we stay in one place for too long. After we find somewhere else to stay then I'll be able to rest again. We'll stay there for a day or so and I'm sure that I'll be able to travel after that."

She didn't look convinced and to be honest even I wasn't sure if it was the truth. This was the worst that I've felt since I became ill.

It took her a few moments to decide what to do as she looked at me with a concerned expression on her face but in the end she reluctantly took the cloth off of my forehead and allowed me to sit up. The room started to spin as I sat up and I tightly closed my eyes while I rubbed my face with my hands in an attempt to stop it. When the dizziness finally went away I opened my eyes and let out a sigh as I turned to the side of the bed and placed my feet down onto the floor.

"We need to get out of here while we still can. Go change into something else while I try to pull myself together." I said to her with a serious expression on my face.

I could tell that she didn't really want to but she did as I asked anyway and I let out another sigh once she closed the bathroom door.

After all this time my illness just had to get worse right now didn't it. My body couldn't give out on me now! I can't afford to let my illness get in the way of protecting Yukina!

I put my sneakers back on and stuffed my hair inside of my hat as I prepared to leave the motel. As Yukina walked into the room I looked over at her and saw that she had on blue jeans, a dark blue t-shirt, and her long blue hair was tucked inside of her hat. She handed me her Kimono and I stuffed it back inside of the duffle bag. As I stood up dizziness took hold of me again and my legs almost collapsed from underneath me.

"(Name)-san!" Yukina said in alarm as she wrapped her arms around me and helped me remain on my feet.

I tightly closed my eyes as I fought against the dizziness and she spoke to me.

"You need rest." she said worriedly.

"I'll be fine. You'll just have to help me to the car." I said stubbornly.

It was obvious that she didn't want to but she eventually helped me over to the car after I checked us out of the room. I had her help me into the driver's seat before she ran back into our room just long enough to grab our bucket of items, my duffle bag, and broomstick. When we were both buckled inside of the car I turned on the engine and drove over to a 24 hour convenience store.

"Buy us a map. It'll be easier to figure out where we are if I have one." I said to her as I handed her some money from the duffle bag.

I watched her as she walked into the store and continued to look around to make sure that no one was following us. It took her a lot longer then I thought it would and I was about to go inside of the store to find her before she finally walked out of the building. As she walked over to the car I spotted two men as they walked out of the alleyway at the far left side of the building. A bad feeling came to the pit of my stomach as my eyes met theirs and I also felt a hint of fear go through me.

One of the men was at least seven feet tall with tanned skin. His short black hair was in a military crew cut and he had a long pointed chin. He wore an olive green trench coat over a green top, loose fitting black pants, sunglasses over his eyes, and leather shoes. The other man was only about four feet tall with extremely pale skin. He had long wavy grey hair that was parted in the middle and gold colored eyes. His outfit was a dark blue long sleeved buttoned up shirt, dark blue pants, and black leather shoes. Even from over where I was I could tell that he had extremely sharp looking nails.

The moment the men smirked at me I knew that they were somehow involved in the mess we were in.

"Yukina hurry and buckle in." I ordered tensely as the men started to walk in our direction.

"O-Okay." she said before I heard the click of her seat belt.

I quickly put the car in reverse and backed out of the parking spot with enough speed to make the tires squeal. After that I stopped the car long enough to put it in drive and pushed on the gas again. The tires squealed for a second time as I drove us out of the parking lot as fast as I could to get away from the two men. I was on high alert as I looked around the area to see if there were any black vans around that were trying to follow us as I drove towards the freeway.

"(Name)-san what's wrong?" Yukina asked after we made it back onto the freeway.

"Did you see those two men who walked towards us at the store?" I asked tensely.

"Yes."

"Do you know who they are?"

"No." she said as she shook her head.

"I have a feeling they knew who we were. Did you get a good look at them?" I asked.

"Y-Yes." she said with a worried expression on her face.

It was obvious that she knew that I thought they were involved in our situation.

"If we run into them again I want you to run. I don't know who they are but I have an extremely bad feeling in the pit of my stomach."

"I won't leave you behind!" she shouted.

"I'm flattered that you care so much about me but I'm in no condition to run Yukina. You know as well as I do that I couldn't even walk to the car without your help. We're just lucky that I woke up. If I wouldn't have insisted on leaving you'd probably be in their hands right now and I'd be dead." I said without beating around the bush.

"But... I don't want to leave you behind." she said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

I looked over at her as she looked at me with a worried and fearful expression on her face and the expression on my face softened a little.

"I'll try my best to run with you if you're that adamant about it. I can't make any promises though." I said to her softly as I looked back at the road.

She nodded her head and spoke.

"Thank you."

She isn't the one who should be saying that, it's me...

The rest of the car ride to the next town was silent as I drove through the night and part of the next day. I drove us over to a small town that was in the middle of no where and wasn't even close to the freeway to make sure that it would be hard to follow us. I stopped at the first motel that I saw and booked us a room. When we made it inside I took off my hat again and placed my duffle bag down onto the floor and took off my shoes before I crashed down onto the bed.

"Try to wake me up sometime tomorrow. We should buy some disguises while we're here and I need to get rid of the car. They now know what it looks like." I said softly with exhaustion evident in my voice.

"Okay." she said as she nodded her head before I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

We spent the rest of the week traveling around to get the men that were after Yukina off of our tails after I stole another car. I also bought us some wigs with some of the money that I stole from my mother. Yukina's was a black shoulder length wig and mine was a (color that you'd prefer that isn't your normal hair color) shoulder length wig. They were strikingly different from our normal hair colors and I was hoping that it'd be sufficient enough to disguise us.

Eventually we ran out of money and the gas also ran out in the car and I cursed under my breath in annoyance.

"Son of a...!" I shouted annoyed as I smacked my hands down onto the wheel.

Yukina and I were currently in the middle of no where in the mountains. My condition had improved enough that I could stand on my own but I knew that I couldn't push myself too much. The fact that we had broken down in the middle of no where in the middle of the day was the worst possible thing that could have happened.

A sound of annoyance came from my lips again before I unbuckled my seat belt and climbed out of the car.

"We don't have any other choice but to leave this here. We'll have to walk the rest of the way to the next town." I said to Yukina as I grabbed the bucket full of items, my duffle bag, and broomstick.

"Are you sure that you'll be able to handle it?" she asked me with a concerned expression on her face.

"I'll manage."

It's not like I have much of a choice anyway.

Yukina and I abandoned the car at the side of the road and walked into the forest to hide ourselves from view just in case the men that were after us were still following us. When night came we were far enough inside of the forest that we couldn't see the road from where we were at. She gathered up some wood for us to use as firewood and managed to get a fire going for us as I lied down on the ground and closed my eyes. Under normal circumstances it would have been difficult for me to fall asleep but it was extremely easy to do so.

We traveled for a few more days on foot until we made it to the next town and I tried to decide our next course of action. Without money we couldn't stay anywhere or eat anywhere for that matter. Maybe I could make some sort of arrangement with a hotel to work for them for a day or so to pay for our room.

"Come on Yukina, I have an idea." I said.

She nodded her head and followed me around town until I found a place that would allow me to work for them to pay for our room and food. I could tell that Yukina was a little worried about the prospect of me working while I was sick but I didn't really feel like we had much of a choice in the matter. We needed a place to stay and they were willing to do it even though we didn't have any money. All I had to do was work.

We stayed inside of the hotel room that night and the next day I worked all day and part of the night until it was finally time to go to sleep. I sluggishly walked towards our room and I wanted to go to sleep when I made it inside of it but I decided that I had to shower before I could do that. It had been a while since I had actually showered and I felt disgusting. When I was finished I changed into a pair of blue jeans, a red sleeveless t-shirt, and a pair of white socks before I headed into the other room. Yukina was sitting on the right side of the bed in her Kimono without her wig on since we were inside of the room. The moment I could I crashed down onto the other side of the bed and I couldn't even get two words in as exhaustion took hold of me for what seemed like the millionth time and I fell asleep.

The next time I opened my eyes I knew without a benefit of a doubt that I wasn't in the hotel room. In fact, I couldn't actually see where I was. I was lying down on what felt like a cold, hard, floor in a windowless room that was pitch black with the exception of the light that was coming through the crack that was at the bottom of the door on the other side of the room. Where was I? What happened to Yukina? What in the hell is going on?!

It felt like hours before the lights turned on and I heard the door open. I sat up as I looked over at whoever it was that walked into the room and the sight that greeted me wasn't pleasant. There were three men in the room, two of which were the men that I saw at the 24 hour convenience store. I knew right then and there that I had been captured while I had been asleep and I was hoping that Yukina ran before they could capture her as well.

"It's about time you finally woke up." the third man said.

He was a short, ugly, and heavy bald man with a large cigar in his mouth. His fat face was sagging and his cheeks were severely wrinkled. His lips were also quite large, his small eyes were droopy, and he had a bump on the top of his head. He wore a purple suit, a white buttoned up shirt, and a red tie around his neck. There were diamond rings on the thumb and pointer finger of his right hand.

"You've given my guys an extremely hard time during the last month. Even these two had problems tracking you and Yukina down." the ugly man said as he spoke again.

So this is the guy who's been after Yukina all this time?

A glare appeared on my face and I stood up as I looked at the three men tensely.

"Who the hell are you people?" I asked with a guarded expression on my face.

"Gonzo Tarukane of the Black Black Club and these two are the Toguro brothers of the Apparition gang." the ugly man, now known as Tarukane, said.

"I'm surprised that you guys decided to keep me alive considering the situation. What changed your mind?" I asked as I tried to come up with a plan to deal with the three men in front of me.

"You can thank my little brother for that." the grey haired Toguro brother said with a smirk.

"We're going to use you to make the Ice Apparition cry." the taller Toguro brother said.

"What in the hell are you talking about?" I asked in confusion.

Why would they want to make Yukina cry?

"You really don't know what's going on?" Tarukane asked with a little surprise in his voice.

"No. Yukina never told me."

He burst out into laughter and then spoke.

"So she gets you involved and then doesn't actually tell you about the dangerousness of the situation that you're in?"

"She didn't want me involved. I was the one who jumped into the situation without thinking." I said with a frown.

I felt around my pockets and realized that I still had my pocket knives. If I could manage to get them out and attack at least one of them I might be able to get away from them.

"Where the hell is Yukina?" I asked as I put my hands in my pockets.

It would be easier to find her if I knew where she was. If they managed to get their hands on her I needed to know.

"You don't have to worry you'll be joining her soon." the older Toguro brother said.

So they're just going to lead me to her? That'll make things simpler. After we're there I can attack them and then Yukina and I can make our escape.

"Enough with the chit chat. Toguro do what you want with her. Just make sure that it works." Tarukane said.

The younger Toguro brother nodded his head before the older one took a step forward as he extended his right arm out in front of him. I looked at him with a little confusion before my eyes widened in shock as his fingers somehow lengthened and then wrapped around my body like a rope.

What in the hell is going on?! What is this guy?!

"Let me go!" I shouted as I looked at them in anger while trying to hide my fear.

I fought to break free from his grasp but I couldn't. His rope like fingers tightened around my body and I grunted out in pain as I stopped struggling due to the fact that I felt like they were about to crush me. I glared at him defiantly and he looked at me with a smirk on his lips as if he enjoyed the fact that I was being defiant. He knew that at the moment he had the upper hand and that there was nothing I could do even though I wanted to continue to fight against his grip.

He lifted me up into the air and then the Toguro brothers and Tarukane walked out of the room with me in tow and I saw a butler begin to follow behind us. I made sure to scan the area as I was taken up several flights of stairs and through large hallways as they led me through a massive mansion until we made it over to a door that had a coat hanger next to it. Tarukane put on his winter coat and hat before we headed through the door and up a long winding staircase that led up to the top of a tower. It became extremely cold as we made it up to the top of the stairs and my eyes widened in surprise when I saw Yukina on the other end of the hallway. She was sitting on a chair in a room that was similar to a jail cell that had a large window inside of it and rectangular pieces of paper all over the walls, window, and bars. There was a strange sphere of clear blue energy around her and gold energy around her body. The thing that I noticed the most though was the extremely cold expression on her face. It was a look that I had never seen on her face before.

Tarukane's butler opened the door to the cell before the Toguro brothers and Tarukane walked inside of it and pulled me along with them.

"We've brought a little friend for you." Tarukane said with a smirk.

Yukina looked over in our direction and her eyes widened in shock and an alarmed expression appeared on her face as she realized that I was there. The strange blue and gold energy disappeared along with the cold as she stood up with fear in her eyes. I felt the older Toguro brother loosen his hold on me as he let go of me and I landed on the floor with a loud thud between her and him.

"Ow..." I said annoyed as I slowly pushed myself up onto my hands and knees with a knife hidden in each hand.

"(Name)-san!" Yukina shouted.

"Hello Yukina." I said as I looked up at her and smiled at her weakly.

She just looked at me with a horrified expression on her face. I decided to take out the blades of my pocket knives while making sure to keep them concealed and coughed so they wouldn't hear them click when they locked in place. The older Toguro brother wrapped his fingers around my body once again and lifted me up into the air as I prepared to attack him.

"If you don't want this girl to die, I suggest you start crying." the younger Toguro brother said.

His brother's fingers suddenly tightened painfully around me and I bit back a yell of pain. That seemed to only encourage him to tighten them around me even more as he smirked at me with a crazed look on his face.

This bastard!

I moved the pocket knives and immediately stabbed them into his fingers. His eyes widened in surprise as I let out a yell and sliced through his fingers in order to break free. Everyone in the room looked at me in surprise as I fell to the floor with a loud thud.

"That hurts! You...! You bastard!" I shouted at the older Toguro brother annoyed as I quickly stood up with the knives still in my hands.

After that I charged at him and stabbed him in the stomach.

"Yukina! Hurry up and run!" I shouted at her as I sliced at the younger Toguro brother.

A smirk appeared on the younger Toguro's face as he looked at me with interest and moved to the side as he avoided the attack before I sliced at him over and over again to try to hit him.

"I can see why Tarukane's men had problems with you. You're more resourceful then we were giving you credit for."

Suddenly the younger Toguro brother launched an attack of his own at me and punched me in the stomach. The air was knocked out of me and I was thrown back and crashed down onto the floor with pain coursing through my whole body as I let go of my knives. His punch was unlike anything that I had ever encountered. Everyone else that I had ever gone against was weak compared to him.

"(Name)-san!" Yukina shouted in alarm.

As I held my stomach in pain I watched in horror as the older Toguro brother managed to reconnect his fingers to his body and the wound that I had given him in the stomach completely disappeared. He wrapped his fingers around me again and lifted me up into the air to bring me close to him.

"It's useless to resist. Nothing you can do will do anything to harm me or my brother." he said with a smirk.

"As if I'd just sit around and do nothing." I said spitefully as I glared at him.

He grabbed my chin and brought his mouth to my ear as he spoke.

"I'm going to have fun with you."

I felt my skin crawl as he licked my ear before he lengthened his fingers as he lifted me up higher into the air. He tightened his fingers around my body but I refused to make a sound of pain as I continued to glare at him.

"(Name)-san!" Yukina shouted out in alarm.

My actions only seemed to encourage him to wrap them around me tighter then ever before as his smirk widened and I was eventually unable to hold back my yells of pain.

"Stop! Please!" Yukina yelled out in alarm and pain.

I felt his fingers slither around me as they lengthened and completely engulfed my body from head to toe. As a result, the little amount of air that I was able to get had been taken away and he began to suffocate and crush me all at the same time. Even though I knew that I needed to hold my breath a scream of agony came from my lips as his fingers tightened even more and I felt like all of the bones in my body were going to be crushed.

"Stop it!" Yukina screamed out with pain in her voice.

His fingers stopped moving before I was suddenly released from his hold and I fell onto the floor with a loud thud as pain surged through my body.

"You cried a little quicker this time. It looks like you've started to take my suggestion. You better train yourself to cry on will or else this girl really might die." the younger Toguro brother said coldly.

I looked over at Yukina and my eyes widened in surprise as I watched her cry. Small round gold gemstones formed out of her tears and fell to the floor next to her feet.

What's going on? I don't understand any of this.

My eyes closed on their own as I fell unconscious due to the pain as well as my illness that was still weakening my body.


	5. Chapter 5: Hidden Power

**A/N:**

This is a disclaimer. I own nothing except for my characters! All other characters belong to the creator of Yu Yu Hakusho! Please do not repost this story without my permission.

Any constructive criticism is welcome. Tell me what you think.

WARNING: THERE IS ATTEMPTED RAPE IN THIS CHAPTER! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Hidden Power**

I've lost count of how many days have passed since Yukina and I were confined inside of Tarukane's mansion. There wasn't a day that went by I wasn't tortured by the Toguro brothers in one way or another whenever I was awake. I was either used as a punching bag by the younger brother or almost crushed by the fingers of the other. The older Toguro brother seemed to find some sort of sick pleasure in torturing me. He especially enjoyed it when I would finally be in enough pain to scream out in agony. As for the younger brother I wasn't sure what to make of him. I felt like he was definitely the saner of the two. He didn't particularly find joy in torturing me but I always had a bad feeling in my gut when I was around him and fear would course through my veins. It was unsettling to be near him.

I still didn't really understand what was going on. The Toguro brothers both looked human but it was obvious that they weren't. I didn't know what they were. The older brother should have been killed when I stabbed him in the chest with my knife but instead he managed to heal himself and even reattached his fingers to his body after I chopped them off. There was also the fact that he could lengthen his fingers into something similar to rope in order to confine me and try to crush me. As for the younger brother, whenever he would punch me it felt like he had some sort of inhuman strength but I had a feeling that I didn't know what he was capable of. It felt like he was holding back whenever he beat me up. Then there was Yukina, whenever she cried her tears transformed into strange gold gemstones that could be sold for several billion yen on the black market according to Tarukane. There had also been strange energy surrounding her body the first time I saw her in her cell that somehow cooled the room.

I understood enough to realize that the situation wasn't normal, you'd have to be an idiot to not realize it, and that I hated Tarukane but that was as far as it went...

"Stop it! Please! No more...! No more!" Yukina said with pain in her voice as I screamed in agony.

This time the older Toguro brother didn't even have to completely cover my body with his rope like fingers before she began to cry. They were slowly breaking her down.

The older Toguro stopped trying to crush my body and I fell silent as I tried to recover from what I had just gone through. His fingers slowly loosened and I crashed down onto the floor with a loud thud as my back slammed into it. I panted in exhaustion while pain coursed through my body like so many times before. He looked down at me with a hungry look in his eyes like he wanted to do something else but refrained from doing so. The look in his eyes had been there since the day we arrived and it worried me. It gave me a bad feeling in my gut.

I looked over at Yukina with a worried expression as she cried with her hands covering her face. Tarukane laughed gleefully and ran over to the newly formed gemstones that were on the floor at her feet. He really was a sick bastard. He was willing to use any method to make Yukina cry just so he could get richer.

"You...! You scumbag!" I said angrily as I looked at him.

I wanted to beat the living crap out of him but I couldn't, I could barely keep my eyes open. My body was gradually weakening due to my illness and the torture I had to go through. Some days it took everything that I had just to sit up.

The entire time we've been confined inside of the mansion I've tried to find a way for us to escape. Unfortunately, the few attempts I have made were all in vain. The Toguro brothers always found a way to stop whatever plan I had conjured up. My attempts seemed to amuse the older Toguro. He knew that it was futile to try to escape just as much as I did but I was too stubborn to accept the fact.

My eyes wandered back to Yukina and I felt a painful tug in my heart. Guilt and anger consumed me every time I watched Yukina cry. I was supposed to protect her. I was supposed to prevent this from happening. She was the only person in this world that actually gave a damn about me and I wanted to do something to help her. Instead of helping her I felt like I was causing her pain by being here. Tarukane was using me to get to her and it worked incredibly well. She cried whenever I was tortured and it made me painfully aware of how much she cared for my wellbeing. That's why I haven't already given up on the situation despite my failing health. I couldn't give up, for her. If anything happened to me she'd be devastated and completely alone in this hellhole.

"I'm sorry Yukina." I said softly as I continued to pant heavily.

She lowered her hands from her face to look at me with wide eyes.

"What?" she whispered.

"You're in pain... because I'm here. I'll find a way... to get us… out of this mess. I promise."

Tarukane burst out into laughter as the older Toguro brother looked at me in amusement. The younger brother seemed indifferent to the whole situation.

"You're still trying to find a way to break free?" the older Toguro asked.

"I'll never give up... as long as... I'm still breathing." I said stubbornly as I glared at him before the hungry look appeared in his eyes again.

I shifted my eyes back over to Yukina as she looked at me with an extremely worried expression on her face. There were still stray tears at the corners of her eyes. A weak smile appeared on my lips as I fought to remain conscious.

"It feels strange... to have someone cry because... they're worried about me. Thank you... for caring." I said before my eyes closed and I fell unconscious once again.

When I opened my eyes I was greeted by total darkness. I knew I had been placed back inside of the dark, windowless, room that had become my prison when I was unconscious. The lights only came on when I was pulled out of the room to be tortured or a guard came to bring me food to eat. The food was the only good thing about this place. They fed me pretty well for being a prisoner.

The lights suddenly turned on and I was temporarily blinded by them as I heard the metal door open. I slowly sat up and half expected to see a guard bringing me a tray of food but I wasn't that lucky. A glare appeared on my face when my eyes landed on the older Toguro as he walked into the room with a sadistic smile on his lips and that familiar hungry look in his eyes. I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach when I didn't see his younger brother or Tarukane and it increased ten fold when he shut the door behind him. Why was he here?

"You're finally awake." he said.

"What the hell do you want?" I asked coldly as I hid the uneasiness that I was feeling.

He lengthened the pointer and middle fingers of his left hand and wrapped them tightly around my wrists. My eyes widened in surprise as he forced my arms over my head and then lifted me up into the air high enough that he made my feet dangle a few inches over the floor.

"What the hell are you doing?! Let go of me!" I shouted at him as I thrashed around to try to break free from his grasp.

"You're smart enough that I know you've already realized what I'm planning." he said as he licked his lips hungrily.

I froze as he looked me up and down and my stomach tightened. The hungry look in his eyes had just taken a whole new terrifying meaning. There was no doubt in my mind what he was planning to do now. He was planning to rape me and I knew that he wasn't the type to not go through with something like this. I had become something similar to a toy that he wanted to play with and yet also desired to break at the same time. He was going to try to completely break me.

"Let go of me!" I shouted in anger as I tried to hide my fear and fought to break free from his grasp once again.

I wasn't going to make it easy for him. I was going to fight him until the very last moment.

The fingers of his right hand lengthened and he sliced through all of my clothes with his sharp nails. I froze once again as I watched them fall to the floor in pieces and the cool air inside of the room touched the skin of my naked body. A glare appeared on my face as I looked back up at him.

"Let go of me you bastard!" I shouted in anger as I started to thrash about again with my heart racing inside of my chest.

He retracted the fingers that had just sliced through my clothes and then lengthened the thumb, ring, and pinky fingers of his left hand to tightly wrap them around my waist and legs. As his pinky and ring fingers slithered up from my ankles to the middle of my thighs I felt my skin crawl. I hated the fact that he was touching me.

I fought him tooth and nail as he slowly forced my legs to bend up and then spread them apart. Unfortunately, I didn't have that much strength to begin with since I was ill and it was easy for him to do what he wanted. A dark blush appeared on my cheeks as he looked down at the area between my legs. Every part of me was now completely visible.

"Y-Y-You...! You pervert!" I screeched out as he took in the sight of my completely exposed body.

He walked over to me and I tensed up as he brought his mouth over to my left ear. I felt my skin crawl once again as he licked my ear before he spoke as his lips brushed against it.

"You're going to become my woman."

My heart raced inside of my chest as his hands and mouth wandered all over the front of my upper body. He made sure to play with my breasts and seemed to enjoy sucking on them or pinching my nipples with enough force that it was painful.

"I'm surprised that you have such large scars marring your back. If you didn't have them you'd be completely perfect." he said with obvious arousal in his voice before he sucked on my right breast as he moved his hands across my back.

I had two long thin scars on my back. One went from the side of my right rib cage down to the lower left side of my back in a straight line. The other was also in a straight line and went from the top of my left shoulder down to the lower right side of my back as it crossed through the other one. They were scars that I tried to not think about.

He moved his mouth up to my neck and I grunted in pain when he touched the bug bite with his tongue. It was still extremely swollen and hurt if anything touched it. A smirk came to his lips and he decided to play with the area as much as possible just to hear me grunt in pain again. However, I refused to give him the satisfaction of hearing another sound of pain come from my lips.

After a few long minutes of him sucking, licking, and biting on my neck he lifted his head and looked me in the eye. I glared at him coldly and a smirk appeared on his lips. Without warning he suddenly slammed his lips onto mine in a rough kiss but when he tried to shove his tongue inside of my mouth I tightly put my lips together to prevent him from doing so. This bastard just stole my first kiss!

As I glared at him again he broke the kiss with the smirk still on his lips.

"That's right. Continue to look at me like that. Continue to fight against me. It'll make it all that much more rewarding when I've finally broken you."

His right hand wrapped tightly around my neck and he started to choke me with enough force that I knew I would have a bruise by the end of this. I fought as long as I could to hold my breath but eventually my body required oxygen and my mouth opened involuntarily as I tried to intake air. He took his chance and forcefully grabbed the hair at the back of my head and crashed his lips back onto mine to shove his tongue inside of my mouth. A muffled sound of surprise came from my throat as my eyes widened in shock when his tongue increased in size and completely filled my mouth. His eyes were glued to mine as I felt him smirk against my lips in satisfaction and then his tongue lengthened until it almost hit the back of my throat. It was only when I started to see stars in my vision that he released his hold on my neck and I took in a couple deep breaths of air through my nose before he lengthened his tongue more and shoved it down my throat. I had to fight my gag reflex as his lips moved roughly against mine and I felt his tongue thrust inside of my mouth and throat as he retracted it and then lengthened it over and over again.

When he finally finished abusing my mouth his tongue completely retracted as he broke the kiss. He silently observed me while I took in deep gasps of air and I was happy that I could breathe once again. My lips felt swollen due to the roughness of his kiss and my neck hurt a hundred times more then it had before.

I felt exhausted but I managed to get enough energy to glare at him coldly when I had finally caught my breath. A smirk reappeared on his lips and he took a few steps back. I watched him in silent horror as he tore his shirt off and then took off his pants and underwear in one fell swoop.

He was about to rape me without any remorse. He wanted to see the pain on my face when he did it and he wanted to try to take everything away from me. I was scared, so scared I couldn't stand it.

"Put some clothes on you damn pervert!" I yelled at him with fear coursing through my veins.

Even more hunger appeared in his eyes as he licked his lips. He took a few steps forward to bring himself closer and I watched in horror as he prepared to shove his fully erect, twitching, member inside of me. A sadistic grin appeared on his face as he relished in the fact that he was finally able to see fear and horror on my face.

"No...! Stop it!" I said unable to hide the fear in my voice.

"You're mine." he said as I felt the tip of his member touch my entrance.

"No!" I screamed out in fear as I tightly closed my eyes.

Something suddenly flowed through my body and I heard him scream out as I became extremely weak. I felt his fingers release me and his member that was so close to taking my virginity stopped touching my entrance. When I weakly opened my eyes to see what had just happened I saw a strange sphere of clear blue energy surrounding me as it pushed him away from me and into the wall on the other side of the room. What…? What is going on? How am I doing this?

I wanted to stay awake but my body had finally reached its limit and I fell unconscious while floating in the air with the strange barrier still surrounding me to protect me from the older Toguro brother...

"This girl is trying my patience! It's already been five days, wake her up Toguro!" I heard Tarukane order as I started to wake up again.

I've been asleep for that long?

My naked body was still floating in the air with my arms and legs hanging down due to gravity while my head hung back. I felt extremely weak. I couldn't seem to find the strength to open my eyes.

"If you want her to die then I will." the younger Toguro warned.

"What?" he asked in confusion.

"Right now she's unconsciously using her powers to defend herself against us."

I felt something push against whatever it was that was still flowing through me. My body weakened even further as the quantity of it suddenly increased.

"This barrier is powerful and yet I sense that it's also weak. I'm certain that I could easily destroy it. However, if I were to attack it she'd unconsciously create another one and over expend her energy. It would instantly kill her."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

"We'll have to wait until she wakes up again."

Tarukane made a sound of annoyance before he spoke.

"Fine."

As I heard the door to the room shut I fell back asleep due to my exhaustion while I continued to float in the air inside of my barrier.

When I woke up again the room was completely silent. My body still felt extremely weak but I was happy that Tarukane and the Toguro brothers didn't seem to be in the room. I managed to open my eyes before the strange barrier suddenly disappeared along with whatever was flowing through me. A sound of surprise escaped my lips as I started to fall before I grunted in pain when my back slammed into the floor. A few moments later I let out a sigh and closed my eyes in exhaustion. There was no point in keeping my eyes open since the room was completely dark.

The lights in the room turned on just as I was about to fall back asleep and I heard the metal door open. I weakly lifted my head causing pain to course through my bruised neck as I opened my eyes and saw Tarukane and the Toguro brothers walk into the room. The moment my eyes landed on the older Toguro I glared at him with hatred while anger flowed through me. I wanted nothing more than to attack him right then and there for what he tried to do to me. I managed to gather enough strength to slowly stand up before I charged at him and pulled my fist back to attack him.

"You bastard!" I yelled out angrily.

I felt something flow through my body again as I went to punch him and blue energy suddenly gathered around my right fist as I felt it concentrate there. The older Toguro looked at me in surprise before my fist connected with his face and I somehow managed to send him flying into the wall behind him despite my weakened state.

"What...?" I asked in shock and confusion.

My eyes landed on the open door to the room and I decided to take my chance as I quickly ran towards it. I could think about what just happened later. Right now I needed to escape with Yukina!

The feeling of something flowing through me disappeared along with the energy around my fist as I made it into the hallway. I had an extreme energy boost as adrenaline rushed through my body and I ran down the hallway as fast as I could. The younger Toguro suddenly appeared in front of me before I could get very far and stopped me in my tracks.

"You certainly are full of surprises aren't you?" he asked with a smirk on his lips.

He raised his fist and punched me in the stomach causing me to make a sound of pain before the force of his attack made me fly backwards. My body crashed down onto the floor of the hallway a little ways away from him and rolled a few times until I finally came to a stop on my stomach. Pain once again coursed through my body as I fought to stay awake now that all of the energy that I had disappeared. As he walked over to me my vision blurred in and out and my eyes closed as I fell unconscious for what seemed like the millionth time...


	6. Chapter 6: Unexpected Encounter

**A/N:**

This is a disclaimer. I own nothing except for my characters! All other characters belong to the creator of Yu Yu Hakusho! Please do not repost this story without my permission.

Any constructive criticism is welcome. Tell me what you think.

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Unexpected Encounter**

Complete darkness... That's all I could see when I opened my eyes. I was once again in the windowless room but I felt like someone had put clothes on my naked body. It was some kind of sleeveless dress with a high collar. A part of me was paranoid about the fact someone had touched me while I was asleep but I was also grateful I wasn't naked anymore. I didn't have a bra or panties on but as long as I was covered I was satisfied.

I didn't bother to sit up and closed my eyes. There was almost no strength left in my body and I felt worse than ever before. My body was also incredibly sore. The younger Toguro brothers punch had done quite a number on me. It wasn't every day a single punch sends you flying down the hallway and then rolling back after you've slammed into the floor. The punch and the collision with the floor were brutal.

As I lied on the floor my thoughts went to the events that took place after the older Toguro tried to rape me. What was that strange barrier of energy that protected me? What was that blue energy that wrapped around my fist when I went to attack the older Toguro brother? Both times I was actually able to do some sort of damage to him unlike all of my other failed attempts. Could I tap into whatever it was again and get me and Yukina out of here?

My thoughts continued until I saw the lights turn on through my closed eyelids. A quiet sigh escaped my lips as I slowly opened my eyes and heard the door open. I had to bite back a yelp of pain when I weakly turned my head to look over at whoever had walked into the room. There was no doubt in my mind that my neck was still bruised and sore from the older Toguro's actions.

Tarukane, his butler, the Toguro brothers, and four guards in dark grey suits stood inside of the room and I looked at all of them in confusion. I was use to Tarukane, his butler, and the Toguro's coming to the room but his guards never appeared unless it was to bring me food. None of them had any food with them so I knew it had nothing to do with feeding me.

While I silently examined everyone in the room I realized one of the guards was the man I threw inside the closet of the apartment the night Yukina was kidnapped. The younger Toguro brother had taken off his trench coat and was only sporting his green tank top along with his usual pants and shoes. As for his freak of a brother, he was perched on top of the younger Toguro's shoulders fully clothed in his usual outfit.

"What do all of you want?" I asked as I slowly forced myself to sit up even though I knew it would cause pain to shoot through my body.

I looked down at what I had on and saw I was wearing a sleeveless royal blue Cheongsam that reached down to my ankles. It had black edging and a large slit that went up to my right hip. I still had my sneakers on my feet. They were all that was left of my previous outfit.

As I continued to look at myself I noticed I had a few bruises on my arms and the one leg I could see. My wrists had a bruise in the shape of a line where the older Toguro's fingers had wrapped around them. I was also incredibly pale, even more so than before. At this point, even if I wasn't killed by the Toguro brothers I wasn't sure how much longer I could handle being ill. It was obvious my illness was finally starting to take a turn for the worst. The extreme weakness of my body and the color of my skin was proof of it. My body had almost reached its limit.

"Grab her." Tarukane ordered.

The older Toguro lifted his right hand and his fingers shot out to grab me. They tightly wrapped around my arms and upper body and I fought back a grunt of pain as I glared at him. There was a sadistic smile on his face as he tightened his grip on me a little more and lifted me up into the air. The bastard knew he was causing me pain and was enjoying every minute of it.

"Let's go. We don't have much time." Tarukane said with a hint of urgency in his voice before everyone headed out of the room.

One of the older Toguro's fingers slithered up to my neck and firmly wrapped around it as I was pulled through the mansion. His finger wasn't tight enough to choke me but it was enough to send pain shooting through my neck. A grunt of pain escaped my lips and he looked back at me with glee before I glared at him again.

It just had to be him who grabbed me didn't it. I'd rather walk in my weakened state than forced to be touched by him again. I've had enough of him for a lifetime.

They led me up to the top of the tower where Yukina was but this time they didn't try to torture me. Instead, Tarukane had two of the guards grab Yukina and all of us headed back down the stairs. It was obvious something strange was going on but like usual I had absolutely no idea what it was.

Yukina looked at me with a great amount of concern when she finally noticed me and I could only smile at her weakly. I obviously didn't want her to find out about what had almost happened. It would make her cry and knowing her she'd feel guilty about it even though it wasn't her fault. However, I knew at the very least she could tell I wasn't well. It didn't take a genius to figure out that I was in worse shape than before.

Tarukane led all of us down to the basement of the mansion where I saw exotic creatures of various sizes locked up in cages all over the large room. Some were large enough to be the size of dinosaurs. There were also a few disturbing looking ones that didn't look like they belonged here. I had never seen anything like them before. A sick part of me was actually a little fascinated by all of it but I had a feeling these creatures were not to be messed with. Some of them looked downright vicious.

My eyes widened in alarm when a thought occurred to me. They weren't planning on throwing me inside of one of these cages were they?! There was no way I could take on one of the dinosaur sized ones! I'd be killed in an instant!

I didn't dare to open my mouth just in case the thought never occurred to them. I still didn't know what was going on for sure and I didn't want to plant any sick ideas inside of their heads. Knowing them they'd all get a kick out of it and Yukina would burst out into tears when I was slaughtered. It would only be then that they'd realize they had made a huge mistake. After all, if I was dead I couldn't continue to help them make Yukina cry.

When we passed by the last cage a feeling of relief took over me but it didn't last long. The reason why we were in the basement hadn't been what I thought but now I was left to question why we were down here. What were they planning now? It couldn't be good whatever it was.

It wasn't long before everyone stopped in front of two massive electronic metal doors. The older Toguro finally let go of me and I let out a grunt of pain as I landed on the floor on my stomach with a loud thud. It may have been painful but at least he wasn't touching me anymore and for that I was relieved.

The guard I threw inside of the closet took out some rope as he approached me while the only other guard who wasn't holding Yukina pulled out his gun and pointed it at me to shoot at me just in case I tried something.

"You don't have to tie me up you know." I muttered as the guard sat on my lower back.

He tightly tied my wrists together behind my back and I made a grunt of pain when he made the rope too tight.

"Not so tight you bastard! You're going to cut off the circulation to my hands!" I yelled at him annoyed.

"It's no different than what you did to me at the apartment." he said with obvious annoyance in his voice.

"You're still sore about that?" I asked as he stood up.

He didn't respond but I could tell he was annoyed as he grabbed a large handful of my hair and pulled me up onto my knees with it causing me to flinch in pain. The older Toguro laughed with glee as he watched the scene play out in front of him.

"You... You bastard." I said to the guard annoyed.

"Hurry up. We don't have much time." Tarukane said impatiently as he headed over to another part of the room.

The Toguro brothers walked through the large metal doors as they opened and the guard forcefully grabbed onto my right arm and pulled me up onto my feet with his hand still pulling painfully on my hair.

"Ow! I'll kick your ass if you don't stop pulling on my hair!" I shouted at him angrily.

It was hard to stay standing due to how weak I felt and the pain that was coursing through every part of my body but he didn't leave me much of a choice in the matter and forced me to walk forward as we followed Tarukane. Yukina and I were pulled over to a set of stairs that were at the side of the room and it took everything I had to remain standing as the guard forced me to walk forward at their pace. By the time we reached our destination I was out of breath and Yukina looked over at me with a great amount of concern on her face once again.

The guard let go of my hair and I was finally able to look around the room to see where we were.

We were inside of some sort of viewing room. There was a large metal green counter underneath a massive window that over looked a dome shaped room. The dome was completely empty except for the Toguro brothers who had their backs to us as they faced the electronic doors that were straight across from us on the other side of the room. It was obvious they were waiting for something or someone to arrive as all of us stared at the doors.

All of us watched as the large electronic doors started to close but before they sealed shut three people managed to make it into the room just in time. My eyes widened in shock when they landed on two of the people that were now in front of us and I felt a painful tug at my heart. They were two people I thought I'd never see again.

"Yusuke? Kazuma?" I whispered in shock causing Yukina to look over at me in confusion.

"You know them (Name)-san?" Yukina asked.

"Y-Yes..." I said unable to take my eyes off of them.

My heart raced inside of my chest as I looked at them with worry in my eyes. Why are they here?! What's going on?!

They looked exactly like I remembered them. I'd say the only differences were that they were five years older and taller. Yusuke's short black hair was slicked back, he had chocolate brown eyes, and he was now about five foot six. There was also a cut on his left cheek as if he had already been in a fight. He was wearing a long sleeved green top that had a high collar which was buttoned up by gold buttons, a pair of loose fitting matching green pants, and black shoes. Kazuma's short reddish-orange hair was styled in a pompadour, he had grey narrow eyes, and he was now about six foot three. He was wearing the same outfit as Yusuke except it was blue and he also had black shoes.

The third person with them was a woman with purple eyes and long blue hair. Her hair was in a high pony tail and she had bangs which went across her forehead. There were also long sideburns that hung down in front of her shoulders. Her outfit was a pink t-shirt underneath a brown jacket, blue jeans, and white sneakers. She was about five foot eight.

Kazuma looked up and noticed Yukina who was standing next to me with the two guards still holding her.

"Yukina-san!" Kazuma shouted happily.

My eyes widened in surprise as Yukina looked at him with a sad and worried expression on her face. They know each other?!

"That's our final opponent, huh?" Yusuke asked tensely with a serious expression on his face as he looked at the Toguro brothers.

"I'm getting all fired up!" Kazuma said with a little excitement in his voice.

I see that their personalities haven't really changed either. They still seem to like to fight. Why in the world are they together? They didn't really get along with each other before. Are they friends now?

"I'm counting on you! I'm counting on you, Toguro brothers!" Tarukane shouted with sweat on his face.

I heard an old man laugh but I couldn't figure out where the sound was coming from.

"It looks like Tarukane-san can't keep his composure this time!" the man said.

"That's for sure. After all, if he loses this time, he'll have lost 50 billion up to now, plus..." another old man said from the same direction.

"The same amount as Japan's national budget, 72 trillion 350 billion yen." another man said as he continued the man's sentence.

"Sakyo-san may be wearing that face, but he must be trembling on the inside!" a different man said before the four men laughed.

These bastards are betting on this?! Are they treating all of this like some sort of sick game?! If Yusuke and Kazuma lose they'll definitely be killed! This is anything but a game!

Kazuma made a sound of annoyance and disgust before he spoke as he looked at the wall behind the Toguro brothers which was underneath the window of the viewing room.

"On the TV's behind him, those idle rich guys are looking on." Kazuma said unhappily.

"How revolting!" the woman said in disgust.

Kazuma looked back up at Yukina with a confident smile on his lips as he looked her in the eyes. Yukina's eyes widened as she looked at him with worry and I could tell that if anything did actually happen to them she would definitely cry. A few moments later his eyes landed on me and they widened in surprise and recognition as the confident smile fell from his lips.

"(Name)...?" he asked in disbelief.

"What?" Yusuke asked.

Yusuke looked up and his eyes widened in shock when he caught sight of me.

"What the hell?! What is (Name) doing here?!" Yusuke shouted.

"You two know her?" the woman asked.

"Yeah." Kazuma said seriously.

"She's an old friend of mine and Kuwabara's that just up and disappeared on us one day. We never heard from her again." Yusuke replied.

"But what is she doing here?" she asked.

"You mean you don't know either?!" Yusuke asked her annoyed.

"No. We don't have any information about another person being held captive other than Yukina."

"Some spy's you have."

"There's something wrong. Her Spirit Energy is slowly fading and she doesn't look well." Kazuma said with a worried expression on his face.

"You're right." Yusuke said with a worried expression also on his face.

My Spirit Energy? What are they talking about?

"How good of you to come. I would ask that you please don't go too hard on us." the younger Toguro brother said before his older brother laughed.

What is he trying to pull?! He isn't weak in the slightest! I've been used as his punching bag enough times to know!

"What have you done to (Name)?! Why is she here?!" Yusuke shouted at him.

"She's become our toy." the older Toguro said before he looked back at me and licked his lips.

I looked at him with a glare on my face and the hunger in his eyes returned as he looked me up and down as if undressing me with his eyes. The sick bastard probably was too. I felt my stomach twist uncomfortably as he continued to look at me but I kept the glare on my face to hide my fear. I don't want something like what happened before to happen again! The very idea of him touching me again makes my skin crawl!

Kazuma and Yusuke looked at him with an unhappy expression on their faces.

"What?" Yusuke said with a hint of anger in his voice before the older Toguro looked at him again with a smirk still on his lips.

Kazuma spoke unhappily with a serious expression on his face as he widened his stance.

"Unless we defeat these guys, it looks like we can't save Yukina-san or (Name)."

"Yeah!" Yusuke said seriously as he also widened his stance.

Can Yusuke and Kazuma really beat them? The older Toguro brother isn't human and I don't even know what the other one is capable of!

"I don't feel much Demon Energy from them. This will be an easy win!" Kazuma said confidently.

Demon Energy?

I quickly pushed the question away from my mind and worried about the fact he was underestimating them.

"Don't underestimate them! They're stronger than what they're letting on!" I shouted at Yusuke and Kazuma.

Yusuke looked up at me for only a moment and nodded his head in acknowledgement as he looked back down at the Toguro brothers.

"She's right!" he said tensely.

The woman and Kazuma looked back at him in surprise before he spoke again.

"I don't know how, but I can't help but tell he's got an incredibly strong energy about him. I can't explain it too well, but I feel it trembling in my gut!"

So he can tell that he's strong too? In a way I don't find that comforting. What if he's too strong for them to take on?

"Really?" the woman asked.

"Let's go, brother!" the younger Toguro shouted.

He let out a yell as he extended his right arm straight out in front of him and his older brother climbed onto it and took off his shirt. The older Toguro let out a yell as he crouched down onto his brothers open palm and then bent forward with his head hanging upside down between his legs as he intertwined his fingers and pointed his arms straight up behind him. I watched in shock and horror as strange purple mist like energy surrounded his body and he let out another yell as his entire body changed its shape.

"T-The guy that was on his shoulder...!" Kazuma said with a freaked out expression on his face.

"He's transforming himself!" Yusuke said tensely.

"This is called Battleshaping. My brother is capable of transforming himself into weapons." Toguro said.

I knew that he was a freak but I didn't know that he could transform himself into objects! What the hell is this guy?!

"He changed into a sword!" Yusuke said as the older Toguro finished transforming and the energy around him disappeared.

There was nothing left of his previous humanlike appearance. His body had completely transformed into a long dark grey sword with hair near the handle that hung from it like a tassel.

"The force depends on the ability of whoever is using it. And then...!" Toguro said as he lowered his sword and flexed his muscles.

My eyes widened in alarm and a horrified expression appeared on my face. Strange purple mist like energy came from his body as my stomach tightened once again and fear coursed through my veins. All of the muscles in his upper body tripled in size before my very eyes and his tank top was ripped from his body as a result.

"Unreal!" the woman said in alarm.

"I have the ability to allow my brother's power to exhibit itself to its fullest! We two brothers become as one."

A strong gust of wind blew around him like a tornado before it expanded through out the entire dome and tried to push Yusuke, Kazuma, and the woman back. I looked at Yusuke and Kazuma with a worried expression on my face as they fought against it. Can they really take him on?! What in the hell is it that I feel coming from his body?! It's huge! The bad feeling in the pit of my stomach is even worse than before!

"T-This is an incredible Demon Energy!" Kazuma shouted.

This is Demon Energy?! Is that what they are?! Are these two demons?! I thought those were only in stories!

My eyes widened as a thought occurred to me and I looked over at Yukina.

Does that mean Yukina is also a demon? Is that why she can produce those Hiruseki Stones? Is that also why she was able to make the room ice cold the first time I saw her in her cell?

"Even this far away from him, it feels like I'm going to be crushed by the pressure of it! Stay back, Botan!" Yusuke shouted tensely.

"R-Right!" the woman, Botan, replied.

The wind stopped as the strange energy around his body disappeared. Toguro yelled out as he suddenly charged forward and Yusuke, Kazuma, and Botan yelled out in surprise as they looked at him. When Toguro reached them he yelled out again and swung at them with his sword. The three of them managed to jump back as they avoided his attack but the force of it was strong enough to break part of the cement floor to pieces when his sword slammed into it. I knew his strength was definitely not the strength of a regular human this only just proved it! If he would have punched me with that kind of strength he would have killed me! I already almost couldn't handle the last punch he threw at me!

They landed on the floor a little ways away from him in crouched positions and looked at him tensely before a slash mark appeared on Yusuke's and Kazuma's tops where Toguro had managed to slice into them with speed faster than I could follow. Yusuke and Kazuma looked down at their tops in surprise.

"H-He's fast!" Yusuke said.

"Damn it!" Kazuma said.

He stood up as a yellowish orange ball of energy appeared in his right hand.

"Spirit Sword!" he shouted as he squeezed on it with both of his hands and a sword made out of the energy appeared.

"What's going on?" I whispered with wide eyes.

Why can he produce something like that? What is this energy? It feels different than the energy the Toguro brothers can produce. It reminds me of the energy I created when I attacked the older Toguro.

Toguro managed to run over to him as he raised his sword up into the air again before Kazuma could do anything.

"Too slow!" Toguro shouted as he swung at him.

Kazuma managed to lift his Spirit Sword up and blocked the attack as he held each end of it with both of his hands but it was obvious that he was struggling to push back against Toguro's strength. I watched on tensely while Kazuma's arms slowly started to give way. Toguro suddenly aimed a punch at him and Kazuma jumped back to try to avoid it but before he could get out of the way Toguro's left fist made contact with his stomach. Blood came out of Kazuma's mouth and his Spirit Sword disappeared as he was thrown back into the cement side wall of the dome. My eyes widened in alarm when he slammed into it with enough force that a massive cloud of dust appeared around him as the wall beneath his body was crushed. When the dust disappeared and Kazuma fell to the floor I saw a silhouette of his body where it came into contact with the wall.

"Kuwabara!" Yusuke shouted in alarm.

Kazuma managed to get back onto his feet as he held his stomach in pain and then started coughing while trying to recover from the brutal attack.

"Jumping back on your own to avoid any mortal injuries, huh? Looks like you're capable of a few smart plays." Toguro said sounding a little impressed.

Kazuma and smart? I never thought I would hear someone say that in the same sentence.

All Kazuma could do was look at him tensely as Toguro widened his stance and continued to speak.

"But it will no longer be necessary for you to pull any shrewd tricks like that! I will be sending you off to the next world soon enough." Toguro said with a small smile.

"Don't toy with me...!" Kazuma said annoyed with pain in his voice.

I tensed up as Toguro let out more of his energy and prepared his next attack. There was no way that Kazuma could handle another beating like that no matter how resilient he was when we were kids! Yusuke and Toguro are on completely different levels of strength! Toguro would kill him if he managed to get another hit in!

Yusuke quickly ran over to Toguro's side while maintaining some distance between them and then pointed his right pointer finger at him as he formed a gun shape with his hand and grabbed his right wrist with his left hand.

"This way, you bastard!" Yusuke shouted to get Toguro's attention off of Kazuma.

Toguro looked over at him with a little surprise on his face as the energy around his body disappeared. My eyes widened in surprise once again as a blue ball of energy formed at the tip of Yusuke's finger. His energy felt similar to the strange energy that Kazuma produced as well as the energy that I managed to create when I attacked the older Toguro brother.

"Take this! Spirit Gun!" Yusuke shouted.

A large ball of blue energy suddenly shot out from the tip of his finger and my mouth fell open a little due to my disbelief. What in the hell is going on?! What was that?! I don't remember him or Kazuma being able to do stuff like this before! I would have definitely remembered something like that!

Toguro jumped high into the air and just narrowly avoided it. The ball of energy continued to fly forward until it crashed into the opposite wall of the dome and created a massive explosion. Yusuke looked up at him in surprise before he spoke as he prepared another attack.

"You're not getting away!" Yusuke shouted.

More blue energy appeared around his right fist as he pulled it back and then rapidly punched up into the air in Toguro's direction.

"Shot Gun!" Yusuke shouted his next attack.

Dozens of blue bursts of energy flew at Toguro before another explosion went off in the air as they slammed into him. Smoke and fire surrounded his body as Toguro fell to the floor of the dome with a loud thud and I looked on tensely as we waited for it to disappear.

"Have you had it?" Yusuke asked tensely.

My eyes widened in alarm as the fire and smoke cleared and I saw Toguro was standing on his feet completely unharmed by the attack. Toguro turned around to look at him as a tense expression appeared on Yusuke's face.

"You've quite underestimated me. I am pretty tough myself, you know." Toguro said.

Yusuke let out a yell and charged at him as Toguro watched him from the other side of the room. After a few moments Toguro also let out a yell along with Yusuke as he prepared to swing his sword. The moment Yusuke managed to get in range Toguro lifted his sword up into the air and swung at him. Yusuke stopped charging forward and jumped into the air to avoid the attack. He disappeared for a few moments and then reappeared right next to him with his body in midair as he prepared to attack him at point-blank range with his right hand in the shape of a gun once again.

"Eat this!" Yusuke shouted.

Toguro looked over at him in surprise before Yusuke shouted out his attack.

"Spirit Gun!"

A large blast of energy came out from his finger and his attack slammed into Toguro.

"What?!" Tarukane shouted in disbelief as I smirked.

Finally.

"You did it!" Botan and Kazuma shouted out happily.

"That's what you get!" Yusuke shouted.

Yusuke's feet once again touched the floor a little ways away from Toguro as he landed on it before he spoke again.

"At that point-blank range, no matter how tough he is..." Yusuke said before he trailed off.

The smoke from Yusuke's attack slowly disappeared while Toguro remained on his feet and the smirk fell from my lips when I saw that his older brother had changed into a shield that covered the lower half of his right arm and the back of his hand. He had used it to protect himself from the blast before it could do anything to him.

"What?! His sword became a shield before I realized it!" Yusuke said in shock.

Toguro suddenly used his left hand and punched Yusuke in the face causing him to yell out in pain as his feet left the floor. Yusuke flew back and slammed down onto the cement floor with enough force to break into it. His body destroyed more of the floor as he slid against it and made a massive line in the cement until he finally came to a stop on his stomach near Kazuma.

"Urameshi!" Kazuma shouted.

"I forgot to mention that my brother can Battleshape into more than just one thing." Toguro said with a smirk.

"Damn it!" Kazuma said unhappily.

"Yusuke!" Botan shouted at his fallen form in alarm.

Yusuke slowly managed to get back up onto his hands and knees and then finally stood up along with Kazuma as Toguro started to speak again.

"Well, well, this is less than I was expecting. I thought you were going to make this more enjoyable for me!" Toguro shouted before he charged at them.

The moment he made it over to them he kicked Kazuma in the stomach with his right foot and sent him flying up into the air. After that he somehow managed to use his speed to get behind him and slammed his intertwined hands into his back and sent him flying towards the floor of the dome. Kazuma slammed onto it with his back and yelled out in pain.

"Kuwabara-kun!" Botan shouted in alarm.

Toguro yelled out as he jumped up into the air and tried to slam his foot down onto Yusuke. Luckily Yusuke jumped back and avoided his attack but before he could do anything Toguro managed to make it over to Yusuke's side and back handed him with his shield covered hand. Yusuke yelled out in pain and then slammed onto the floor with a loud thud.

"Yusuke!" Botan shouted in alarm.

Tarukane laughed with glee and I looked over at him with a glare. Damn it! I want to help them! If I could produce that energy again then I might be able to do something but how do I do it?!

"He's strong! He's going to win! I still have some luck with me!" Tarukane said before he burst out into laughter again.

I looked at Yusuke and Kazuma with a worried expression on my face as I watched Toguro beat them up like he had done to me so many times before. There was one crucial difference though between then and now, he wasn't out to kill me like he was them. Damn it! How can I produce that energy again?!

"Sakyo-san, it appears that I will win the final wager!" Tarukane said.

Not if I can help it! Damn it! I'm not some damsel in distress! I don't need saving! I...! I'm going to help them!

I fought to break out of the guards grasps with all the strength I could muster while they held me tightly to prevent me from escaping before Toguro punched Yusuke in the stomach and a large amount of blood came out of his mouth.

"Let me...! Let me go you bastards!" I shouted as I continued to struggle against them.

I couldn't let them die!

Yusuke held his stomach in agony as he fell to his knees and then placed his head on the floor as he tried to deal with the pain. While he was down Toguro kicked him in the face and forced him back up onto his knees as he yelled out in pain once again. Toguro then grabbed the back of his top and picked him up off of the floor with ease.

The man I threw inside of the closet suddenly punched me in the stomach when I tried to stomp down onto his foot and knocked the wind out of me before I fell to my knees in pain. His punch wouldn't normal cause this much pain... Kazuma was right, I really am not doing well.

"(Name)-san!" Yukina called out to me with worry.

"You're trying to cause trouble again?" the guard asked me annoyed as he grabbed a large handful of my hair and painfully pulled on it to force my head back.

"You're surprised?" I managed get out.

A glare appeared on his face and his grip on my hair tightened causing me to wince.

All the while, Tarukane continued to laugh as he watched Toguro beat Yusuke and Kazuma up.

"U-Urameshi...!" I heard Kazuma say weakly.

"Toguro, what are you doing?! Don't finish them off all at once! Pound them slowly to their deaths! They thought that they could have everything their own way, and I almost suffered a huge loss!" Tarukane shouted.

I weakly looked up at Yukina as she turned her head and closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to watch what was happening anymore. Tarukane turned around and forcefully grabbed her chin in order to make her look him in the eye. There was obvious pain and worry in her eyes as she opened them.

"Watch closely! This is the end of those foolish humans who tried to save you!" Tarukane said.

Yukina tightly closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to look at him or watch what was happening as he paused for a moment and I glared at him. A sick smile appeared on his lips as he spoke again.

"Just like that other time!"

Yukina immediately opened her eyes again and a look of pain appeared on her face. She looked like she was about to cry at any moment.

Like that other time? Does that mean that Yukina's seen someone else die trying to save her? This...! This bastard! How much pain is he going to force her to go through until he's satisfied?!

Yusuke let out another yell of pain before I heard Toguro chuckle while anger flowed through me.

"How fragile... I'm disappointed. However, it looks like you won't be able to entertain me any further."

It took me a few moments to fight off the pain in my body as I glared at Tarukane with hatred and finally managed to speak again.

"Shut up you fat pig! And the same goes for you Toguro!" I shouted angrily.

"What?" Tarukane asked me with a hint of annoyance due to my insult.

"What? You didn't expect me not to say or do anything did you, you son of a bitch." I said as my glare worsened and the two guards forced me back up onto my feet.

"(Name)-san...?" Yukina asked me in surprise as she looked at me.

"Urameshi, Kuwabara, I thought you two were stronger than this. You didn't turn into wimps while I wasn't looking did you?" I asked as I looked over at them.

I need to find a way to get inside of the dome! That will be the only chance I have to help them! It's either that or I have to motivate them somehow. They never did like to be insulted about their strength.

Yusuke looked over at me with a pain filled expression on his face while Toguro held him up in the air by the front of his top as he also looked at me. Kazuma simply looked forward without responding as if he was in thought.

"(Name)...! What are you doing?" Yusuke asked me weakly.

"What do you think you can do? At any moment I could easily order my men to kill you and you wouldn't be able to do a thing." Tarukane threatened.

I laughed a humorless laugh and kept a straight face despite the pain that coursed through my body due to my actions.

"I'm too important. You wouldn't kill me. I can say anything to you that I want and you can't do anything to me. If you did you wouldn't be able to get your precious money that you so crave. After all, you need those priceless gemstones that Yukina produces whenever she cries right? I'm the only reason why you can get those. In other words, you're just a dumb scum-sucking dog that has to rely on me to get anything out this. You're powerless without me." I said with a smirk.

Something dangerous flashed in his eyes and I knew that I had hit a nerve as he forcefully grabbed my chin.

"What was that?" he said to me angrily.

I spit in his face without hesitation and smirked at him in satisfaction before his anger seemed to get the best of him and he slapped my left cheek as hard as he could. If the guards wouldn't have been there to force me to stay on my feet I would have fallen to the floor due to the force.

"How dare you! It looks like the Toguro brothers haven't taught you your place yet. I'm sure that the older Toguro would love to be able to do anything to you that he wants." he threatened.

"They'll never be able to teach me my place. If that bastard tries to do anything to me I'll kick his ass just like before." I said coldly.

He glared at me when he realized that his threats weren't going to work and spoke to the two guards that were holding me.

"Beat her up. I won't be satisfied until I hear her screaming in agony."

The man that I threw in the closet pulled on my hair again and forced my head back as he made me look at him.

"I've wanted to do this for a long time." he said with a smirk before he threw me onto the floor.

He and the other guard started to kick and stomp on me as hard as they could while I fought to stop my screams of pain. This wasn't exactly what I had planned. At the very least, I was expecting him to throw me into the dome so I could attempt to help Yusuke and Kazuma while Toguro beat on me.

"(Name)-san!" Yukina said with fear, worry, and alarm in her voice.

"(Name)...!" Yusuke shouted weakly.

"I can't believe it." Kazuma said with a hint of anger in his voice.

I couldn't see what was happening but I could feel his energy as it increased and I hoped that whatever was going on would help them win. However, I couldn't really continue to dwell on it since I was too busy trying to hold back my yells of pain as the two guards hit me over and over again. I wouldn't give that bastard the satisfaction of hearing me yell out in pain.

"Are you really human? Is that really how a human would act?!" Kazuma asked with anger.

"I'm surprised. Your spiritual power has risen, has it not?" Toguro asked.

I heard Toguro chuckle as one of the guards stomped down on my arms as hard as he could while the other kicked my right side.

"Does this mean you're going to entertain me some more?" Toguro asked before I heard a loud thud.

"Yusuke!" I heard Botan say.

"Out of my way! You're not the one I want to kill! It's that filthy rotten lowlife behind you!" Kazuma shouted at Toguro.

Tarukane looked back through the window and spoke.

"By that, do you mean me?" Tarukane asked before he laughed.

"Of course he means you." I managed to get out before one of the guards stomped down on my head and the other one stomped down on my left thigh.

"Amusing! Come up here, if you can make it, kid! Toguro, give that guy his walking papers!" Tarukane ordered in amusement.

"Did you hear that? How unfortunate." Toguro said.

"Why, you... Out of my way!" Kazuma shouted as I felt him let out more of his energy and I heard something similar to a light saber.

I heard something clash into something else over and over again as the two guards continued to beat up on me.

"Do you still not get it?" Toguro asked.

Toguro yelled out before I heard Kazuma yell out in pain and I knew that he had managed to hit him again.

Kazuma!

"With your speed, it's impossible. I can plainly see all of your actions!" Toguro said.

The room went silent for a few moments with the exception of the guards as they beat me up mercilessly. I was finding it harder and harder not to yell out in pain as I fought to remain conscious.

"That's enough, Toguro! Finish them off! Do it in some full-blown, merciless way!" Tarukane said before he burst out into laughter.

"Understood."

"Shut up you pig!" I shouted at Tarukane angrily.

I have to do something! I have to try to save them! I refuse to be a damsel in distress while they get their asses kicked all over the place! Why can't I produce that energy again?!

Tarukane looked back at me with a frown on his face and spoke to his men.

"What are you doing? If she can still talk to me like that then you're not hitting her hard enough."

I felt the power of their kicks increase ten fold as they tried their hardest to make me yell out in pain and I tightly closed my eyes as I made sure to keep my mouth shut.

"You really are noncompliant aren't you?" the guard I threw in the closet said annoyed when he couldn't make me yell out in pain.

"Please stop it!" Yukina pleaded with pain in her voice.

"Yukina don't cry! You'll only give that bastard what he wants! Besides, these guys' kicks are nothing compared to Toguro's." I said to her firmly as I looked at her from the corner of my eye.

It wasn't a lie but I didn't really know how much longer I could handle it.

"Shut up!" the guard I threw in the closet shouted before he stomped down on my head as hard as he could.

Damn it! It's not supposed to be like this! I'm not supposed to be a damsel in distress! I'm not supposed to be so easily beaten up! I'm supposed to help Yukina, Yusuke, and Kazuma!

"You can't, Kuwabara-kun! It's too dangerous!" Botan suddenly shouted.

"You dumbass! Try a stunt like that and you'll bite the dust!" Yusuke said tensely.

"I'd rather bite the dust if I have to lose like this!" Kazuma shouted.

Botan and Yusuke didn't say anything else before he spoke again.

"I'm counting on you!"

"Yeah. You got it, Kuwabara!" Yusuke said after a few moments.

Whatever plan they have better work!

"You're all ready, right?" Kazuma asked.

"Yeah."

I heard Kazuma let out a loud yell before Toguro spoke.

"You're prepared to take the honorable way out, then? Fine, then! I'll slice you in half and get it over with!" Toguro shouted.

Kazuma continued to yell out before Toguro shouted again as he spoke.

"This is where it ends!"

"Go, Kuwabara!" Yusuke shouted.

I felt a surge of Yusuke's energy from the dome before I heard Kazuma yell out once again. A look of shock appeared on Tarukane's face as sweat gathered on it. If he looked like that I knew that whatever they had planned actually worked. They had finally won the fight.

A smirk appeared on my lips before the man I threw in the closet stomped on my head again and dug his heel into it. I saw my vision start to go blur as I fought to stay conscious. Their beating was taking a major toll on me.

"To think you would take a full-on hit from his Spirit Gun... to accelerate you... Not bad!" Toguro managed to get out.

I heard something fall to the floor with a loud thud.

"I-Impossible!" Tarukane shouted out in horror before the two guards stopped beating up on me to look at the scene in surprise.

"Game over. I win. In all, it comes to 72 trillion, 400 billion. Have the money ready for me by the end of the month." I heard a younger man say that hadn't spoken before.

"If ever this sort of opportunity arises again, please call me, Tarukane-san. Whoops, I guess you can't any longer. You're bankrupt, after all." one of the older men from before said almost gleefully.

"That was so enjoyably entertaining." another older man from before said.

After that the four old men burst out into laughter again.

With friends like that who the hell needs enemies.

"S-Sakashite, prepare the helicopters! You two get her off of the floor! We're taking her with us!" Tarukane ordered.

I was pulled back up onto my feet and forced to stand despite the pain that was once again coursing through my body.

"We're taking Yukina and (Name) and running away from here! As long as we have the Hiruseki stones, then no matter how much money we need-." Tarukane said.

"As if I'd let you!" I shouted before I stomped down onto the foot of the guard I threw in the closet.

No matter how much pain I'm in I can't allow them to take Yukina out of here! This is our only chance of escaping!

He yelled out in pain and then cursed angrily as I broke out of his grip. When I tried to get away the other guy forced me to turn around and then punched my stomach as hard as he could before I could do anything. The air was knocked out of me and my eyes widened as my vision blurred. A metallic taste filled my mouth as I fought to stay conscious. My body bent forward a little as I leaned against his fist before he removed it and I fell forward onto the floor with a loud thud.

"(Name)-san!" Yukina yelled out in alarm.

The guard I threw inside of the closet grabbed a large handful of my hair and forcefully pulled me back up onto my knees as I panted in exhaustion.

"Fine then, if you won't come willingly then we'll just drag you out of here by your hair. Either way you're coming with us." he said with an angry expression on his face.

Right after that the door to the room opened and I looked over at it with a look of pain on my face. There was a boy who was Yukina's height standing in the doorway with his hands in his pockets and a scowl on his face.

He had thick soft looking spiky black hair that seemed to defy gravity. There were bangs going across his forehead that were outlined by some white strands of hair that hung down over his forehead while the rest of the white strands stuck up like the back of his hair. Underneath his bangs he had a white headband that went across his forehead. He wore a black long sleeved coat that reached down to the middle of his shins, black pants, black boots, and a white scarf around his neck. My eyes widened in surprise when I noticed his strangely familiar red eyes that looked so much like Yukina's as they drew me into them.

The guard let go of my hair and all of the guards in the room pulled out their guns. Suddenly the boy disappeared only to reappear next to me and Yukina in a crouched position. I made a sound of surprise as the guards and Tarukane's butler fell to the floor unconscious. How can anyone move that fast?!

When I looked over at Tarukane he took a step back in fear as the boy stood up and continued to glare at him.

"You're the only one left... So you sealed her up inside a perimeter of wards. That's why no matter how much I searched with the Jagan, I couldn't find her. However, when you took her out of there, you ran out of luck!" the boy said.

Who is this guy? Why was he searching for her?

"S-Spare me! I-I'll give you any amount of money! I know! Why don't we team up? This girl's Hiruseki stones, the gems she produces, have incredible worth! How about it? You could torture that girl there and she'll produce them easily!" Tarukane said as he pointed at Yukina and then to me.

The boy didn't say anything as he stepped forward and then began to punch him in the face over and over again.

"Spare me!" Tarukane begged.

"Stop, Hiei! Don't kill him!" Yusuke shouted up at him from the floor of the dome.

The boy, Hiei, stopped for a moment to look at him and I grimaced a little when I saw Tarukane's bloody and bruised face. Hiei definitely wasn't holding back on him that was for sure. A sound of annoyance came from Hiei's lips before he grabbed the front of Tarukane's shirt and spoke out with anger in his voice.

"Don't think you're getting off with just this!" Hiei shouted as he pulled his fist back to make the final blow.

Yukina made a sound of alarm and ran towards him as his fist moved towards Tarukane's face. She managed to grab a hold of his wrist before his fist could make contact.

"No!" she screamed out.

Hiei and I looked over at her in surprise before she quickly wrapped her arms around his arm and spoke with pain in her voice.

"Stop! Please, stop already!" Yukina begged.

"What do you mean by this? This is the human who made you suffer, isn't it?" Hiei asked with obvious anger still in his voice but it wasn't anger at her and I knew it, I could tell that it wasn't.

"I've had enough! I don't want to see any more of people injuring each other, and hating each other! No matter what sort of person they might be..." she said as her body shook and tears began to gather in her eyes as she tightly closed them.

A soft expression appeared on my face as I looked at her.

She really is something...

She opened her eyes and looked back up at him with a pleading expression on her face.

"I beg you! Please stop!" she begged.

A few tears fell from her eyes and turned into Hiruseki stones before they hit the floor. Hiei was silent for a few moments as he looked at her with a kind and calm expression on his face. It was far different from the look he had on his face when he walked into the room.

"All right, then. There's no need for you to grieve over a guy like this." Hiei said with a small smile on his lips.

"Thank you very much!" she said with a small smile as she let go of him and he let go of Tarukane.

Hiei and Yukina were silent for a few moments as they looked out of the window of the viewing room. It's finally over... Yukina's finally safe.

Yukina looked back over at him and spoke again.

"Um, who are you?"

He quickly looked over at her with wide eyes surprised from the question but he didn't say anything to respond.

"Who in the world are you?" she asked again.

The surprised expression disappeared from his face as he looked back down at the floor of the dome below.

"A friend... of theirs." Hiei said softly.

Yukina suddenly let out a gasp and turned around to look at me with a worried expression on her face.

"That's right! This is awful! (Name)-san!" she said as she quickly ran to my side.

A weak smile appeared on my lips as she placed her knees down onto the floor in front of me and Hiei silently observed what was happening.

"It looks like everything's going to be all right." I said to her weakly as the strength in my body left me and I rested my forehead on her left shoulder.

"(Name)-san!" Yukina said with worry in her voice once again as she hugged me.

"Yusuke's here. You don't have to worry. He's not a bad person and neither is Kazuma. With Hiei here too I know that you're safe now. I can entrust your safety to them." I said with exhaustion in my voice.

I still didn't understand who Hiei was and why he was so angry at Tarukane but if he was friends with Yusuke then I knew I could trust him.

"Please help her!" Yukina said to Hiei pleadingly.

"What?" he asked with confusion in his voice.

"She's been sick for five months! Please take her to a doctor!"

"It's been that long, huh?" I said with a weak chuckle before I flinched in pain.

I was silent for a few moments and then spoke again.

"How many times do I have to say it? I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me." I whispered.

"Stop... Stop pushing yourself (Name)-san. Your body can't handle much more of this." she said with a shaky voice.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that she was on the verge of tears.

"...Please, don't cry. Don't cry again. There's just nothing a regular doctor can do Yukina."

"What?" she asked in alarm.

"Do you remember those strange bugs that were flying all over the place where I lived?" I asked her softly.

"Yes?" she said with confusion in her voice.

"I became ill after I was bitten by one of them. That's the only thing that I can come up with. They weren't visible until after I was bitten and the bug I crushed when it bit me was invisible."

She let out a gasp of alarm and her hold on me tightened.

"You've... You've been poisoned for that long?" she asked with worry.

"Poisoned?" I asked softly.

"Please, do something! She was poisoned by a bug demon five months ago! If she isn't given the antidote soon she'll die!" Yukina said to Hiei pleadingly.

Hiei didn't say anything but I felt the ropes on my wrists suddenly loosen and fall to the floor as my arms fell forward and dangled loosely at my sides. She loosened her hold on me before a hand grabbed onto my right shoulder and I was pulled away from her. He suddenly picked me up bridal style and an earthy scent filled my nostrils as I placed my head on Hiei's left shoulder.

"I'll see what I can do." he promised.

"It'll take more than this to kill me. I've managed to deal with it for five months. I would be annoyed if I ended up dying now because of it. We're in the clear now. Besides, I can't die. It'd make you cry again, right?" I said softly before I looked over at her from the corner of my eye with a tired smile.

Her eyes widened in surprise before she smiled at me for the first time in what felt like a while. After that she brought her hands up to my face and spoke.

"I know it's not much but I do have some power to heal wounds."

I weakly brought my right hand up to her wrist as blue energy surrounded her hands and shook my head.

"Don't worry about me. Kazuma and Yusuke need your help more than I do. Toguro was a lot stronger than these guards are. Go to them first." I said to her.

She hesitantly lowered her hands as she looked at me and then nodded her head.

"Please take care of her. I need to go check on the others." she said to Hiei before he nodded his head in understanding.

I watched her as she ran out of the room and then closed my eyes with a small smile on my lips. She really is full of surprises. Who knew that she also could heal people?

"My, my, I hurried all the way to get here, but it appears that it was a wasted trip." I heard Minamino's voice say.

What in the world?! What is Minamino doing here?!

"Stop covering up your presence and coming near me, it's in poor taste." Hiei said as I felt him shift.

"You're sure about this? Not identifying yourself to Yukina-san as her brother?"

He's her brother?! That explains why he was looking for her and also why he was so angry with Tarukane. Why doesn't she know that he's her brother?

"Where's the necessity in doing that?"

"Well now, that's up to you, isn't it?"

"In that case, things are fine as they are."

"Idiot. I'm sure that she wouldn't mind knowing that you're her brother. She's the type that would be happy about the news. I suppose though that if you don't want her to know then that's your business." I said softly.

Hiei tensed up before Minamino spoke in surprise.

"You were awake (Name)-san?"

I opened my eyes and looked over at him and weakly nodded my head.

"Yes. Why are you here Minamino? This isn't exactly a normal place to just wander into. It's in the middle of nowhere." I said.

"I could ask you the same question. You've been missing from school for months."

I chuckled in response and winced in pain before I spoke.

"I supposed you could but the reason why I'm here isn't really that interesting."

"Kurama, she's been poisoned by some type of bug demon from the Demon Realm. Yukina has an attachment to her and wants to save her." Hiei said.

"What's the Demon Realm? Who the hell is Kurama?" I asked in confusion.

"That's me." Minamino said.

I raised an eyebrow at him but when he didn't explain anything else I let it slide. It wasn't like I was really in any condition to demand answers anyway.

"Whatever. I suppose all of us have a secret or two that we don't want anyone to know about. That's probably one of them, right?" I asked.

He looked at me in surprise before a small smile appeared on his lips as he spoke.

"You really are hard to keep up with sometimes (Name)-san. One minute your rash and hard to deal with and yet the next your calm, collected, and understanding."

"I'm only calm, collected, and understanding to the people that I don't mind being around. The rest of the people I could care less what they think." I said bluntly.

He looked at me in surprise from my response once again before Yusuke and Botan walked into the room.

"What is this?! Kurama, you're here too?" Yusuke asked loudly.

So they also know Minamino? Today really is full of surprises isn't it.

A chuckle escaped my lips before I winced and then smirked at him.

"You're just as I remembered you, Urameshi. Loud and obnoxious."

"What?!" he shouted at me annoyed.

"She's right." Hiei said bluntly with a smirk on his lips.

"In any case, it's nice to see you again idiot. Though I can't say I'm not surprised by the strange turn of events. Who would have thought after all these years I would run into you again and that you would even know Minamino and Yukina? It's unsettling how small this world is." I said softly as I slowly relaxed in Hiei's arms.

"(Name), are you all right? You don't look so good." Yusuke said with worry in his voice as he walked over to me and Hiei to get a closer look.

"I'm fine. I just need some rest and I'll be as good as new." I said to him reassuringly.

"You're still saying that?" Minamino asked me with a chuckle.

"Of course I am. If I didn't, whatever poison that's going through my body would have killed me a long time ago."

"Poison?!" Yusuke shouted in alarm as he looked at me with wide eyes.

I didn't respond and let my exhaustion finally take its hold on me as I closed my eyes and fell asleep in Hiei's arms.


	7. Chapter 7: Saying Goodbye

**A/N:**

This is a disclaimer. I own nothing except for my characters! All other characters belong to the creator of Yu Yu Hakusho! Please do not repost this story without my permission.

Any constructive criticism is welcome. Tell me what you think.

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Saying Goodbye**

I felt like I was laying on something soft and extremely comfy when I regained consciousness. It was completely different than the hard cold floor I had grown accustomed to. I was also warm since something soft was covering my body.

"When do you think she'll wake up Kurama?" I heard Kazuma ask as he broke the silence.

"I've been wondering the same thing. She's been out for four days." I heard Yusuke say.

"Her body went through a great deal of stress while she was poisoned. It will take her some time to recover after everything that has happened. She's lucky to be alive. If we hadn't shown up when we did, she wouldn't have made it. The poison, no matter how stubborn she is, was ready to kill her. It was in its final stages." Minamino said.

"How long is some time?"

"It depends on how much damage she sustained. The poison has probably done quite a bit of internal damage and according to Yukina-san she was also tortured extensively while at Tarukane's mansion. That's why her body was completely covered in bruises. A regular person would have died if they had been forced to go through what she has over the last five months."

Apparently, Kazuma must not have heard about it because he spoke out in disbelief.

"What?"

"They tortured her in order to make me cry..." Yukina said softly with guilt in her voice as I felt someone gently grab my right hand.

Yukina...

Kazuma wasn't the only one who didn't know. Yusuke suddenly spoke out with annoyance in his voice.

"Those bastards!"

"Yukina-san's healing abilities have helped tremendously but she'll still need some rest before she can make a complete recovery." Minamino said.

The room went silent again and I spoke softly as I slowly opened my eyes.

"There's no need for you to feel guilty Yukina. None of this was your fault."

I was in a fairly comfortable bed inside of a well lit bedroom. I turned my head a little and looked at Yukina as she stared at me with a surprised expression on her face. She was sitting on a wooden chair next to the bed I was laying on while holding my hand in both of hers. A gentle smile appeared on her lips as I gave one of her hands a reassuring squeeze.

"(Name)-san." she said with relief in her voice.

"Yo." I said with a tired smile on my lips.

To be honest, I half expected to see that I was still in the windowless room inside of Tarukane's mansion. It wasn't like I had been feeling well before this. The voices I was hearing and the warmth and comfort I was feeling could have been some figment of my imagination. However, now that my eyes were open I could see that all of it was real. The events that happened weren't just some dream I had thought up while I was asleep. Yukina and I really did make it out of there in one piece.

My eyes moved around the room and I caught sight of Yusuke and Kazuma while they stared up at me with relieved expressions on their faces. They were sitting on the floor in the center of the bedroom with playing cards in their hands. Minamino was leaning against the wall on the opposite end of the room near the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. There was also a look of relief on his face and a small smile on his lips while he looked at me. Hiei was also in the room but he wasn't next to anyone. He was sitting on the floor with his back against the side wall of the room. His facial expression didn't change and he simply looked at me with a neutral expression on his face.

"It's about time you woke up!" Yusuke said loudly.

I still felt a little tired after everything that has happened but compared to how I felt before, I was almost a hundred percent better. The bruises I previously had were nowhere to be seen and the pain I felt when I had fallen unconscious was nonexistent.

When I looked down at what I was wearing, I noticed that I had on a red sleeveless t-shirt and a pair of jean short shorts. I could feel that I had on a bra as well as panties and a blush appeared on my cheeks.

"All right, I want answers before I start kicking someone's ass! Who in the hell changed my clothes while I was asleep?!" I asked annoyed.

"Huh?" Yusuke and Kazuma asked as they blinked at me in confusion.

"It wasn't one of you two perverts was it?" I asked them as I cracked my knuckles.

"Perverts?!" Yusuke shouted.

"Yes." I said bluntly.

"Don't lump me in with this guy!" Kazuma shouted a little annoyed by the insult as he pointed at Yusuke.

"What was that?!" Yusuke shouted at him annoyed.

"No, it wasn't them. It was me (Name)-san." Yukina said softly.

I looked over at her and nodded my head before I sighed as I calmed back down. In a way, I wished that no one would have changed my clothes but if someone had to I was happy that it was Yukina. She wasn't the type to ask too many questions. The scars on my back would raise red flags for Atsuko, Yusuke, or Kazuma.

"So where are we?" I asked as I looked over at Yusuke.

"You're at my apartment, in my room." he said.

"Your apartment? You moved?" I asked.

"She finally woke up?" I heard the familiar voice of a woman ask as she walked into the room.

"Hello Urameshi-san." I said to her with a wave.

Atsuko Urameshi was a woman with chocolate brown eyes like Yusuke's and long medium brown hair that reached down to the middle of her back. She had bangs which were just above her eyebrows that were parted down the middle. Her outfit was a loose fitting orange three-fourths sleeved t-shirt, blue jeans, and white socks. She was twenty eight years old, around five foot eight, and she was also Yusuke's mother.

"You don't need to be so formal, just call me Atsuko like you did when you were younger." she said with a small smile.

"How are you feeling?" Kazuma asked.

"I'm fine, just a little tired that's all." I said as I looked over at him.

"We talked to your mother and told her that you were here." Yusuke said.

"What?" I asked him with a little surprise in my voice.

Great, the last thing I wanted was for them to talk to my mother.

"Kurama led us over to your apartment and we told her that you ended up in a situation."

"What kind of situation?" I asked wearily.

There's no way that she'd believe what really happened.

"We decided to leave that up to you." Minamino said.

"She didn't ask any questions?" I asked with an incredulous expression on my face.

"No. We just asked her if we could grab some clothes for you and she told us that we could." Kazuma said.

"She did seem like she was pretty angry though." Yusuke said.

I let out a groan and lied back down onto the bed.

"I'm sure she was." I said.

My mother is definitely going to kill me...

I spent the next few days inside of Yusuke's apartment recovering while he, Kazuma, Minamino, Hiei, Yukina, and Atsuko watched over me. It felt strange to be around so many people since I was used to being alone most of the time, with the exception of Yukina. Almost all of my time was spent sleeping, eating, or worrying about what was going to happen when I made it back to the apartment. I really didn't know how my mother was going to react and I hated to find out.

The strangest and most uncomfortable thing about the situation though was the fact I was around Yusuke, Kazuma, and Atsuko after such a long time. However, since I was recovering, I was forced to stay at Yusuke's place so I didn't really have much of a choice. I wasn't sure how to act around them. If they talked to me, I spoke but I kept my answers extremely short and gave very little information about my current life. The less they know the better. I wasn't exactly proud of the way I turned out.

Luckily, they didn't really ask too much about me. Yusuke and Kazuma were too busy rough housing and playing games or, in Kazuma's case, trying to impress Yukina. I had no idea when Kazuma and Yusuke actually became friends but, to be honest, it was a welcome change. When we were kids Kazuma would always try to pick a fight with Yusuke which would result in Yusuke easily beating the living crap out of him.

"(Name)-san?" Yukina asked me while I stared out of the window next to the bed I was in.

"Hm?" I asked as I looked over at her.

"I've decided to go back home now that you're all better."

"Back home?" I asked with a little surprise in my voice.

For some reason the thought of her going home never actually occurred to me.

"Yes. I haven't been home for five years."

"Where do you live?"

"I live in the Demon Realm on the Land of Glaciers."

"The Demon Realm?" I asked in confusion.

"It's not something you need to concern yourself with." Hiei said as he walked into the room along with the others.

It was the first time he had spoken to me since I woke up.

If it wasn't for Yukina I was pretty sure he wouldn't be here. There was no other reason why he would stay here to watch over me other than that, if he was even watching over me. It was possible he was only here to watch over Yukina. I was still a little curious about why he didn't want her to know who he was but whenever I would question it I would push the thought aside. It was something I knew I would never get the answer to. When Yukina left I knew I would never see him again.

His personality was quite different than his sisters. He kept his distance from the others most of the time. However, I could tell that he and Minamino had some sort of friendship. It seemed like it was the same with Yusuke as well. As for Kazuma, those two didn't really get along. It was a little ironic since Kazuma seemed to be extremely interested in his sister.

When no one else in the room offered an explanation about the Demon Realm, I nodded my head and didn't ask about it again. It didn't seem like any of them wanted me to know too much about it.

Deep down, I hated to see Yukina go but I didn't want to keep her. If she hadn't been home for five years I'm sure that she was probably missing it. There was no reason why she needed to stay here now that Tarukane wasn't after her. She was finally free to live her life.

"You guys don't mind if I come with you to see her off do you?" I asked.

Yukina and I looked at Yusuke, Kazuma, Minamino, and Hiei and I could tell that they were hesitant to let me come.

"Please?" Yukina asked them.

"...Fine." Yusuke said after a few moments.

"Thanks." I said to Yusuke with a grateful expression on my face.

The next day Yusuke, Kazuma, Hiei, Yukina, and I left the apartment to take her back home. When we reached our destination, I knew without a benefit of a doubt that I would never see her again. Just to get here we had to go through some strange entrance in the floor of a nearby building.

Snow came down from the dark clouds in the sky as we stood inside of a large clearing in the middle of a thick forest near the base of a mountain. The wind blew my hair around and I was grateful that Atsuko let me borrow a black long sleeved t-shirt and blue jeans.

"Have a safe trip Yukina." I said to her as we hugged each other.

"Yes. Thank you for everything." she said softly.

We let go of each other and I nodded my head with a gentle look on my face as I gave her a soft smile.

"Goodbye (Name)-san." she said as she bowed to me.

"Goodbye Yukina." I said softly.

I watched her with a heavy heart as she turned around and then she took her first step forward. Each step she took made my urge to try to stop her stronger but I resisted it. If she wanted to go home I couldn't stop her. I didn't have the right to especially not after everything she's done for me. She unknowingly made my life have some sort of meaning.

Kazuma suddenly ran forward and I looked at him in surprise.

"Wait!" he shouted at the top of his lungs as he called out to her.

Yukina stopped walking but didn't turn around to face him. When he was only a little ways away from her, he stopped running and took a single step forward before he spoke.

"You're going no matter what?" he asked sounding almost heartbroken.

"The Ice Maidens have a practice of not living outside of the Land of Glaciers." she said.

So I really won't be seeing her again after all... I already knew it but she only just confirmed it.

She turned around and looked at him with a sad smile on her face.

"Thank you, Kazuma-san. Really..."

She turned her head to the side and looked down at the snow covered ground in sadness as all of us watched her. After a few moments, she turned her back to us and began to walk towards the mountain once again. Kazuma took a final step forward and reached out to her in one last attempt to stop her as all of us watched her walk away.

Somehow I was already starting to feel lonely even though I could still see her.

"Are you going to let her go like this? You're sure you're okay with not telling her you're her brother?" Yusuke asked Hiei softly.

"Yukina doesn't know me. There's no need for her to know me from here on, either. We had different mothers in the first place." Hiei said softly.

"Still, you searched so long for her, right?" Yusuke asked as we looked over at Hiei.

"I'm a man who was once on the Spirit Realm's wanted list. Do you think she would be delighted to know that she had a brother like that? I'll be fine just watching over her from the shadows."

I see. So that's why he doesn't want her to know...

He closed his eyes and bowed his head a little before I noticed something glow red at the center of his forehead underneath his headband.

"Did you, by any chance, get that Jagan just to find her?" Yusuke asked.

"Nonsense." he said before he turned around and began to walk in the opposite direction as Yukina.

As I watched Hiei walk away from us, I spoke softly.

"It wouldn't surprise me if he did. If there's one thing I can tell, it's that he cares for her and he probably would have done anything to find her. That's the way siblings are. However, I don't know why he would lie about it if he really did get this Jagan thing to find her."

Yusuke looked over at me and then spoke.

"Speaking of siblings, what about Sora? Where is he? I'm surprised that he didn't visit you."

My eyes widened in surprise due to the sudden mention of my brother before I quickly masked it with a neutral expression. I just shrugged and then decided to follow after Hiei without responding.

"Hey!" Yusuke said.

I knew he wouldn't be satisfied unless I gave him an answer and stopped walking as I spoke without looking at him.

"He hasn't been around."

Kazuma seemed like he was in a daze as we headed back to the Human Realm. It was obvious that he was heartbroken by the fact Yukina left. I couldn't say that I blamed him, I wasn't affected in quite the same way as him but it definitely hurt to see her go.

We were all completely silent as we walked on the snow covered ground until we reached the Human Realm. Hiei quickly parted ways with us now that Yukina was safe and back where she belonged. When Yusuke, Kazuma, and I made it back to Yusuke's place I changed into my jean short shorts and purple sleeveless t-shirt before I decided that it was time for me to part ways with Yusuke and Kazuma as well. The mere mention of Sora was more than enough reason to leave. Besides, I was better now. There was no reason for me to stay here.

"This time try to keep in touch will you?" Yusuke said as I put on my sneakers when I was ready to leave his apartment.

"Yeah. If you don't, we'll go to your apartment and bang on the door until you let us in. Thanks to Kurama we know where you live now." Kazuma said seriously.

I cracked a fake smile and turned around to face them with my right hand behind my back as I crossed my fingers.

"I'll see what I can do. This place isn't exactly close to Mushiyori City you know." I said.

"Try." Yusuke said.

"The same goes for Sora. He also better make sure to talk to us." Kazuma said.

"I'll see what I can do." I lied again with my fingers still crossed behind my back.

As I uncrossed my fingers, I turned my back to the two boys and then gave them a final wave.

"Bye." I said as I opened the door and walked out of the apartment.

I had no intention of ever seeing them again. It wasn't that I had a problem with them. In fact, they were both pretty likeable just like they were when we were kids. I just didn't feel comfortable being around them for various reasons.

I looked around on my way to the train station and a feeling of nostalgia took over me. The area was one where I had grown up as a child with Yusuke, Kazuma, and my brother Sora. It was bittersweet and left a bad taste in my mouth. I didn't bother to stop anywhere and headed to the train station as fast as I could to get away from the area.

The sun disappeared behind the horizon and the sky had turned dark by the time I finally made it back to Mushiyori City. There were still bug demons flying around all over the place and I made sure not to be bitten by any of them as I walked down the sidewalk. I didn't need to be poisoned again.

A part of me felt apprehensive about going to the apartment so I wandered around town for a little while until I was sure my mother wouldn't be there. I had no doubt in my mind she would talk to me if we bumped into each other. That's something I wanted to avoid at all costs. If I could, I would never go back there but unfortunately I didn't have that option. There wasn't a good enough reason to substantiate not going back now that Yukina was safe.

The door was shut like it was supposed to be when I made it to the apartment. I noticed that the bullet holes were missing and the door was new. Even the bullet holes in the opposite wall had been patched. It was as if the incident never happened.

I stared at the door in apprehension hoping that my mother hadn't decided to stay longer than usual. She usually never stayed this late. It was already eleven.

With that thought in mind, I went to grab my keys before I realized that I didn't have them.

"Son of a...!" I shouted out in annoyance.

When the older Toguro destroyed my clothes I had also lost my keys in the process.

A groan escaped my lips before I headed down to the bottom floor and made my way over to the apartment manager's room. I knocked on his door a few times before an older man opened the door.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I don't have a key to the apartment my mother and I are living in."

"Which apartment are you?"

I answered his question before I followed him to his office. He took the key off of the hook and then we headed up the stairs. We have been living here for a long time so I was lucky enough that he knew who I was.

After he unlocked it and opened the door for me, I thanked him profusely and he headed back to his room for the night. When I walked into the dark apartment, I turned on the light and looked around. The living room was completely empty and the apartment was silent. A sigh of relief escaped my lips when I realized I was the only one here. The thought also made a frown appear on my lips as I shut the door. Yukina also wasn't here. I was back to my usual life once again...


	8. Chapter 8: The Invitation

**A/N:**

This is a disclaimer. I own nothing except for my characters! All other characters belong to the creator of Yu Yu Hakusho! Please do not repost this story without my permission.

Any constructive criticism is welcome. Tell me what you think.

Sorry that this chapter took so long to come out! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

* * *

 **Chapter 8: The Invitation**

The next morning I walked out of my room in my school uniform but what greeted me wasn't exactly what I wanted to see nor did I expect it. My mother was on the couch straddling a man's waist while in a heated lip lock with him. This wasn't the first time she had brought a client here but she wasn't normally at the apartment so early. I always made sure that I wasn't here if she was around.

My mothers name was Sayuri (Last Name). She had long waist length black hair that was parted on the left and draped over her back. If her eyes weren't closed, you'd be able to see her purple eyes. She was wearing an extremely short and tight fitting black dress that showed off her tall curvaceous body. I was also sure her dress made it easier for her to do her job. Her client's wouldn't even have to take it off when they were ready to have their way with her.

The man she was with had short brown hair that was parted on the left. His eyes were closed as he moved his right hand to the back of her dress and unzipped it while he enjoyed their heated lip lock. He had on a black long sleeved buttoned up dress shirt that had a few of the top buttons undone, black slacks, and black socks.

His chocolate brown eyes opened along with my mothers as they broke their kiss and a long line of saliva went between their mouths before it broke. They stared into each others eyes before they noticed me and I felt myself become extremely uncomfortable, more so than before, as they looked at me from the corner of their eye. The man looked at me in surprise while my mother simply ignored me as she brought her mouth back onto his and kissed him passionately. She easily unbuttoned his shirt and began to move her hands over his bare chest as the man managed to get over his surprise. He gave me a meaningful glance and then shut his eyes and kissed her back with just as much passion as he pretended like I wasn't there. His right hand moved down between her legs and I tightly closed my eyes so I wouldn't have to look anymore.

The sight of it all made me sick.

I turned around and headed back into my room as quickly and quietly as possible when I heard my mother let out a soft moan.

"Yuu." she moaned.

As I shut the door and locked it, I decided to skip school and walked over to my desk and pulled out my headphones to listen to my music. There was no way I was going to listen to what they were doing through the door nor was I going to risk the chance of seeing anything that I didn't want to. I had already seen enough...

After it had been dark outside for a little while, I took off my headphones and walked over to the door to put my ear against it. There was no way I was going to walk out of this room if I heard anything even if I was hungry. I had already seen too much due to previous experience. Unfortunately, I had, on more than one occasion, walked in on my mother and a man doing the deed on the couch. It always sent a jolt of pain through my heart when I saw it.

When I was sure it was silent, I opened the door and walked out of my room to make me something to eat. The lights in the dark living room suddenly turned on and I quickly looked towards the light switch as my eyes widened in surprise. I completely froze when I saw my mother standing in front of the closed door to the apartment.

What is she still doing here?!

She looked at me with a meaningful glance and I knew right then and there that she had stayed to talk to me.

Her outfit tonight was an extremely tight fitting dark blue off the shoulder dress with long sleeves. It barely reached low enough to cover everything and showed off her cleavage. Her long black hair was up in a high ponytail and she had red lip stick on her lips. On her feet she had black stilettos.

"You're home?" she asked.

"Yeah." I said as I tensely nodded my head.

"Care to explain why the door to the apartment had bullet holes in it and why you stole most of my money? Better yet, why did Yusuke, Kazuma, and a boy from your school suddenly appear on my doorstep and tell me that you were at Atsuko's place?"

I hesitantly opened my mouth and spoke to her softly with a neutral expression on my face as I hid the fear I felt.

"I ended up getting into a difficult situation and eventually ended up at Yusuke's place when it was all over."

There's no way I could actually tell her what happened. She'd never believe me even if I told her. If she thought I was lying to her, it would only make the situation worse.

A glare appeared on her face and she spoke.

"It would figure that you've been causing trouble again. It was rather obvious after I saw the bullet holes in the door and noticed you stole my money."

"...What is it that you really wanted to talk about? I know it isn't about you being concerned about my whereabouts." I asked softly.

This is the longest conversation that I've had with her in a long time... I just want it to end. I just wanted her to leave.

"You're right. I could care less about what you've been up to the last three months." she said bluntly.

I felt pain shoot through my heart as she continued to speak.

"I'll just get to the point since I have other things to attend to. I've had to deal with the school calling me to tell me that you've missed school for the last three months."

"And?" I asked while wishing she would get to the point.

She began to walk over to me and I instinctively took a step back each time she took one forward as more fear coursed through me. When my back touched the wall, I pressed myself against it while wishing that I could continue to go back but I couldn't. I wanted to run into my room and lock the door but I didn't. I was too petrified. Besides, if I did, it might make everything even worse than it is now.

When she reached me, she grabbed the front of my school uniform top and pulled me towards her. She let go of my top and then punched my left cheek with enough force to make me fall to the floor on my right side. I felt her right foot connect with my stomach and let out of grunt of pain before she began to kick me over and over again. After a few minutes, she stopped kicking me and then used her heel to step on the palm of my right hand causing me to grunt in pain again. A yell of pain came from my lips as she dug her heel into it and put as much of her weight as possible on my hand before I closed my mouth to keep silent.

"Pull any crap like this again and I will have to do something to you far worse than this. You're already enough of an inconvenience, I don't need to go to jail because of you." she said coldly.

I didn't say anything before she stomped down onto my right hand causing me to yelp in pain and then she spoke again.

"Do you understand?" she said coldly.

"...Yes." I said softly as I tried to mask the pain while she dug her heel as hard as she could into my hand.

She didn't bother to say anything else as she removed her heel and then turned around and walked towards the door of the apartment. I could only feel hurt and fear from her words as I watched her open the door and walk out into the hallway. I brought my right hand to my chest and curled up into a ball on the floor the second she closed the door and finally left. Loneliness, fear, and pain consumed me as I stayed on the floor and the hunger I had been feeling before was completely nonexistent. The pain from her actions was far greater than anything the Toguro brothers could do to me...

By the next day, the hurt and fear I felt had turned into extreme bitterness and anger. Due to what happened, I never fell asleep and stayed on the floor all night long but I didn't feel tired. I was too angry and bitter to feel anything else as what happened last night swirled through my mind.

I sat up from my spot on the floor and began to get ready for my day as the sun came through the windows of the apartment. When I looked at myself in the mirror in my bathroom, I could see a visible bruise on my cheek where my mother had punched me. My anger flared and out of rage I grabbed my ceramic toothbrush holder and slammed it into the mirror several times causing the mirror to shatter. My hand throbbed in pain and I dropped my toothbrush holder onto the floor as the pain became too unbearable causing it to shatter while I held my hand. I looked at my hand and saw a bruise at the center of my palm along with a scab where the back of my mother's heel had dug into it. It was definitely a little worse for wear. It hurt to move it.

A part of me didn't want to go to school. If I did, I would have to deal with the idiots there. However, I forced myself to get ready for it anyway. I didn't want my mother harping on me about it again. I didn't want anything to do with her.

When I made it to the school building, the other students looked at me in surprise while I ignored them and kept a guarded expression on my face. They had enough good sense to not get in my way and quickly moved to the side the moment they saw me walk through the hallway. I could hear them whisper to each other but I didn't bother to listen to them as I walked through the building. Everyone in the classroom went completely silent as they stared at me when I walked through the door. I sat down at my desk without a word and pretended like they didn't exist as I looked out the window.

"Good morning, (Name)-san." Minamino said as he sat down in his seat.

I looked over at him and nodded my head in acknowledgement but I wasn't in the mood to talk so I didn't say anything. His eyes widened in surprise as he looked at me before a look of confusion appeared on his face. He seemed to be able to sense that I wasn't in the mood for small talk and didn't say anything else like he normally would and for that I was grateful. With the way I was now, I didn't know if I would be able to control my temper. The last thing I would want is to take out my bitterness and anger on the one person who actually treats me like an equal in this hellhole.

When I looked out of the window, I noticed a familiar figure clad in all black with the exception of his white scarf and headband. Our eyes met for only a moment as he looked at me and I noticed a hint of surprise in his eyes before I decided to look somewhere else. I had no idea why Hiei was here. I had never seen him here before. Why would he suddenly pop up now?

The words my mother said and her actions continued to play through my mind over and over again during the day. My mind couldn't help but go back to last night. Every time I was forced to write notes, which was all day since I was in school, agonizing pain coursed through my hand. After the bell finally rang for lunch, I stood up and silently walked out of the classroom to go up onto the roof to be alone. Everyone in the hallway looked at me fearfully when they noticed me and moved out of the way. They could tell that I wasn't in the mood to deal with them.

"So the rumors are true. You are back." Togashi said from behind me while I looked through the chain linked fence that surrounded the roof.

"I'm in a foul mood Togashi. Don't make me kick your ass today." I said with a hint of anger and warning in my voice.

"Did the guy you were with finally come to his senses?" Tasuke asked.

My right eyebrow twitched in annoyance as I spoke.

"Don't tell me you idiots actually believed those rumors. You out of all people should know that I prefer to be alone. Why in the hell would I get involved with someone?"

"Can you blame us? We heard all about the things you did in Junior High." Kinomoto said.

"For the last time I didn't sleep with anyone!" I shouted angrily as I turned around and glared at them with an extremely cold expression on my face.

The group looked at me with wide eyes and I could see each of them gulp as they stared at me nervously. I scoffed and then decided to head for the door to the building.

"To hell with this, I'm out of here. I should have never come to school today."

They seemed to have enough common sense to leave me alone and let me walk back into the building without any protests. I walked down the stairs until I reached the floor where my classroom was. Minamino was still in the classroom when I walked into it but I ignored him and walked over to my desk and grabbed my things. He looked at me with concern and confusion.

"Are you going somewhere (Name)-san?" he asked.

"I'm leaving. I'm not in the mood to deal with everyone today. I don't have the patience for it." I said as I closed my bag.

I didn't wait for him to say anything and quickly walked towards the door of the classroom. However, Kaito chose that moment to walk into the doorway and I crashed into him. A grunt came from my lips as I fell onto the floor with a loud thud and he looked down at me before he smirked.

"Well, well, well if it isn't the reject. I'm surprised that they let you come back considering how many days you've missed. You're a disgrace to our school."

My anger flared and I quickly stood up and went to punch him in the face but someone managed to grab my wrist before I could. Kaito's eyes were wide before a composed smirk appeared on his face despite the fact that sweat had gathered on it due to his nervousness.

"You're lucky. If Minamino wouldn't have stopped you, I would have been able to have you expelled."

"Why are you in such a bad mood Kaito? Did Minamino manage to score better than you on the exams once again? I did always think that his mind was superior to yours and I've never been proved wrong about that." I said with a cold smirk.

This time it was his turn to look at me annoyed before Minamino decided to pull me out of the classroom and away from Kaito. We eventually made it up onto the roof and I noticed that Togashi and his gang were gone. Minamino let go of my wrist and then turned around to face me and silently looked at me in thought.

"If you have something to say then say it." I muttered with a frown on my lips.

"I didn't bring you up here to lecture you or to even talk for that matter. It just seemed like you needed to get away from everyone to calm down for a little while. Besides, even if I asked you to tell me what was bothering you I have a feeling you wouldn't want to talk about it anyway."

I felt myself relax a little before I spoke.

"I knew you were smarter than everyone else here but why did you take me up to the school roof? Didn't I tell you that I wanted to leave?"

"You've already missed a lot of school haven't you? I'm sure that you don't want to get further behind. Kaito was right, you're lucky you weren't kicked out of school or severely punished for missing so much of it."

I just scoffed and looked over to the side.

"I could care less at this point. All I want to do is leave and never come back."

Minamino didn't say anything in response but I could see his surprised expression from the corner of my eye. I sighed and walked over to the chain linked fence at the edge of the roof and looked through it once again. He and I stayed silent for the rest of lunch and when the bell rang to signal class was about to start I turned around and noticed Minamino was looking at me with an indescribable look on his face. We didn't say anything to each other as we walked back into the building together and I decided to stay at school for the rest of the day to humor him. It wasn't like I had anywhere else to go anyway...

Once school ended, I silently packed my bag and after Minamino told me goodbye for the day I nodded at him in acknowledgement and then headed out of the building to get away from everyone else. I made my way over to the train station and once I made it to Mushiyori City I wandered around town a lot longer than I usually would. There's no way I was going to risk running into my mother again even if it meant dealing with the bug demons that were flying around all over the place.

It was ten at night by the time I arrived at the apartment. I opened the door and turned on the light as I stepped inside of the living room before I looked around the apartment to make sure my mother was no where to be seen. If she was still here, I would walk right back out the door without a second thought. This time I wouldn't just stand there and let her do whatever she wanted to me.

A sigh of relief came from my lips when I found out that she wasn't here and I walked over to the door and shut it. I instinctively started to walk over to the breaker and then stopped when I realized once again that Yukina wasn't here anymore. I had grown accustomed to her presence. It was nice to be able to come home to someone who actually wanted you around. Whenever I was around her, I found myself able to have some sort of peace that I couldn't find anywhere else.

The loneliness I felt in my heart increased ten fold and before I knew it I was heading back out of the apartment in an extremely foul mood. At this point, I wanted to kick someone's ass and I knew exactly who it was going to be. They'd willingly fight me...

A few days have passed since my encounter with my mother but her words still continued to play through my mind over and over again. I was still extremely bitter and angry and the fact that Yukina wasn't at the apartment seemed to make matters worse. Every night I was painfully reminded of the fact that there was no one there and I felt extremely lonely but I tried not to dwell on it. She was happy wherever she was. This place was a prison to her. At least now she's able to roam around freely without worrying about Tarukane or anyone else coming after her.

In my attempts to deal with my fury and loneliness, I took all of my problems out on the people that seemed to want to fight with me or were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. As a result, I ended up getting into more fights than usual since I didn't hold back on my insults. I could tell that Minamino was concerned about the way I was acting and he had to pull me up to the roof on several occasions to calm me down but he didn't say anything to me. He knew I wouldn't tell him what was bothering me.

I let out a soft sigh while Minamino and I stood on the school roof for the third time today. My hand still wasn't in good enough condition to allow me to climb up onto the upper part of the roof to lie down. In fact, it was still incredibly painful to move it too much.

It was the end of another long day of school and everyone was leaving for the day, or they were supposed to be anyway. Instead, I saw a large crowd of people gathering around the school gate. A perplexed expression appeared on my face when I noticed a massive chunk of it had been destroyed. The missing section was large enough I could clearly see it all the way up here through the chain linked fence.

"What the...?" I asked softly.

"What is it?" Minamino asked.

He walked over to me and I saw his eyes widen in surprise from the corner of my eye. My curiosity seemed to get the best of me and I turned around and headed back into the building with Minamino next to me. It didn't take us long to make it out of the main doors and we joined the crowd in order to get a closer look at the damage. I noticed Hiei at the front of the crowd looking at the wall with wide eyes and Minamino walked over to him while I stayed back.

What could cause this kind of damage?

A bad feeling hit the pit of my stomach and I instinctively backed away from the crowd and then stopped when the feeling increased ten fold. I slowly turned my head and looked over my shoulder when I sensed something behind me. A very familiar face appeared in my vision as I looked up at the man who was right behind me. I quickly turned around and took several steps back to put some space between us while fear coursed through me.

"T-Toguro?" I said in disbelief as I looked at the younger Toguro brother with wide eyes.

"You seem to be doing a lot better since the last time I saw you." he said.

I couldn't say anything in response before he looked at me with a small smirk on his lips and then spoke.

"What's the matter? You look as though somebody's pulled the rug out from under you."

"How...? How are you still alive? Everyone told me Kuwabara pierced right through your stomach with his Spirit Sword." I said tensely as I masked my fear with a guarded expression.

"Come with me. I want to talk to you."

"Why in the hell should I? I've seen enough of you and your brother to last me a life time!" I said harshly before I started to walk away from him as quickly as I could.

"If you don't come with me, I might be forced to take desperate measures." he said.

I stopped walking but I didn't look at him.

"What do you mean?" I asked with a frown.

"You've seen what I've done to that wall. It would be easy for me to attack everyone here. You wouldn't want that, would you? I could also do something to your mother."

I tensed up as my eyes widened in alarm. I've been around him long enough to know that it wasn't some empty threat. He really would attack Minamino, Hiei, and my mother if I didn't do as he asked.

"Follow me." he said after a few moments.

He knew that he had me...

He walked past me and I hesitantly followed him with a frown on my lips. There was still fear coursing through my veins while I stared at him in thought. How is he still alive? His brother isn't around here is he? Now that I think about it, I never asked Yusuke or Kazuma if they also defeated him. I didn't need to see that perverted bastard again. Why does Toguro want to talk to me? How does he know about my mother? Is it because he was working for Tarukane? What in the hell is going on?

My thoughts continued to race as I followed him to wherever it was he wanted to lead me. When we finally arrived, we made it all the way to Mushiyori City and he led me to an open area surrounded by large trees next to the park I usually went to as the sun began to set. I looked around tensely while wondering if someone was going to run out from behind one of the many trees in the area. I wouldn't put it past the older Toguro to suddenly appear. It was unsettling that Toguro seemed to actually know I was from Mushiyori City. What really bothered me though was the fact he had led me to a place that was only a few blocks away from the apartment. There was no doubt in my mind at this point that he really did know where I lived and who my mother was. Why else would he have led me here?

Toguro stopped in the center of the clearing and I also stopped walking forward. I made sure to keep some distance between us since I wanted to be as far away from him as possible.

"What do you want?" I asked him with a guarded expression on my face as he turned around to face me.

"Before that... Kurama and Hiei, I know you're here. Come out." Toguro said.

"What?" I asked in surprise.

I looked behind me and my eyes widened in surprise when I saw Hiei and Minamino step out from behind one of the trees. They looked at Toguro with guarded and calculating expressions on their faces. It was an expression on Minamino's face I had never seen before. He normally acted friendly with everyone at school.

"What business do you have with (Name)-san?" Minamino asked tensely.

"The same business I had with Urameshi." Toguro said causing Hiei and Minamino to look at him in surprise.

"What?" I asked in confusion as I looked at Toguro.

"I guess I'll cut to the chase. I'll first answer your question. Appearing as if I had been beaten was, in fact, just an act."

"An act?" I asked in surprise.

Tarukane was his employer wasn't he? The fight with Yusuke and Kazuma bankrupted him because the Toguro brothers lost. Why would he lose on purpose? Unless the man who benefitted from his loss, Sakyo, already had the Toguro brothers wrapped around his finger. If that was the case, Tarukane wasn't their real employer after all.

"However, I'm not here to talk about that."

"Then what are you here to talk about?" I asked tensely.

He looked at me for a few moments before he spoke again.

"I'm surprised. You don't seem as afraid of me as your friend Urameshi was. His entire body was shaking just by being around me, his instincts feared me, but you've managed to compose yourself. Unless... You are as scared as he was but you're able to hide it."

"What in the hell are you talking about? Why should I be afraid of you? If your only goal tonight is to try to scare me then I'm out of here. It's not going to work." I said with an annoyed tone to my voice as I lied through my teeth.

I turned my back to him and took a step towards Minamino and Hiei but before I could get very far Toguro managed to get in front of me and I bumped into him.

"What?" I whispered in surprise as I quickly backed away from him.

I temporarily forgot how fast this guy was! I should have realized that it wasn't going to be so easy to escape this situation.

"Quit putting up this useless brave front. The fact that you want to run away proves you're afraid. However, you're staying here whether you like it or not. I have something I wish to discuss with you." he stated.

"The hell I am! I don't want to have anything else to do with you or your damn brother!" I shouted in anger as I tried to walk around him.

My eyes widened in alarm when he decided to aim a punch at me.

"(Name)-san!" Minamino shouted in alarm.

Fear coursed through every part of my being and I tightly closed my eyes waiting for his fist to hit me like so many times before. Right after that, I felt something familiar flow through my entire body. When I didn't feel any pain, I slowly opened my eyes and realized that I had unconsciously made a clear blue barrier of energy around myself. My eyes landed on Toguro who was lying on his back on the ground a little ways away from me before I heard him start to laugh. All the while, Hiei and Minamino were staring at me with wide eyes.

"Now that you're not poisoned your barrier is a lot stronger than before." Toguro said with a smirk as he sat up and looked at me.

Even though fear was still coursing through me, I continued to stand where I was and glared at him. I knew that he could probably break it with ease but it still gave me a little comfort. There was something between me and him.

"...What in the hell do you want?" I asked tensely as Toguro stood up.

"This barrier you have seems to give you a great amount of comfort. What would happen if I decided to break it? Would you feel the proper amount of fear then?" he asked.

I didn't say anything in response but I felt extremely uneasy about the prospect. When I felt whatever it was flowing through me increase, the barrier around me suddenly strengthened. His smirk widened and he took off his green trench coat which left him shirtless.

"So I was right. This barrier seems to be able to calm you. Knowing an opponent's true fears is part of one's strength. You are strong! You can be much, much stronger. That is why I have decided to show this to you now, the real me!" Toguro shouted.

My eyes widened in alarm when I saw purple mist like energy surround his body and his muscles tripled in size. I couldn't stop myself from taking several steps back as I cowered in fear. The amount of power flowing through him was a lot greater than when we were at Tarukane's.

"When I fought Urameshi and Kuwabara I was at about twenty percent, I suppose." he said.

"W-What?!" I asked in alarm.

He was only using twenty percent of his power?!

"And now, with this I will easily be able to destroy your barrier!" he shouted.

A look of horror appeared on my face as he ran over to my barrier to attack. I took a step back while I looked at him with even more fear on my face unable to hide what I was truly feeling. Toguro pulled his right fist back and I felt what was flowing through me increase in power once again just before his fist came into contact with the barrier.

The force of his attack wasn't strong enough to completely shatter the barrier but I suddenly felt excruciating pain shoot through my head causing me to hold the sides of it. What is this? Why does it hurt so much for him to punch it?

"This is about sixty percent."

"W-What?!" I asked with pain in my voice.

He punched and kicked at the barrier over and over again while I continued to hold my head in agony. The pain that coursed through my head was unlike anything I had ever felt before. It felt like he was physically beating my head in with a hammer repeatedly. My barrier started to crack when I felt like I was on the verge of screaming out in agony and I fell to my knees due to the pain.

"(Name)-san!" Minamino shouted in alarm.

Hiei decided to run at Toguro as he pulled out a katana and sliced at him. Toguro stopped his attacks and was able to easily catch Hiei's blade with his left hand causing Hiei to look at him in surprise. After that Toguro used his sword to throw him back and he slammed into one of the nearby trees.

"Hiei!" Minamino shouted in alarm before he ran over to him.

"Don't get in the way." Toguro said with a hint of warning in his voice.

Toguro looked back over at me with interest as a small smirk appeared on his lips while I panted in exhaustion with sweat on my face. The pain in my head was still there, and it hurt a great deal, but it wasn't as bad as it was when he had been attacking me.

"Interesting. I wondered why this barrier seemed powerful and yet weak but now I know my answer. As you are right now, you can't control your power. If I decided to break this barrier, I could completely shatter your mind. In other words, this barrier has made you even more vulnerable than you would be without it." Toguro said.

"Shatter her mind?" Minamino whispered in alarm.

"Unless you want me to shatter your mind, I suggest you take down this barrier."

I didn't say anything as my uneasiness increased ten fold. There was no doubt in my mind that he was telling the truth and it worried me a great deal. He had no reason to lie about it. My uneasiness only seemed to increase the flow of whatever was surging through me and the cracks in the barrier disappeared as it increased in strength again.

A smirk appeared on his lips before he spoke again.

"As you wish."

After that he started to punch and kick at it mercilessly. I was left holding my head in agony once again as I saw it begin to crack little by little.

"Lower your barrier you fool!" Hiei shouted at me once he recovered.

"I...! I don't know how!" I shouted as I looked over at him with pain on my face.

"You're stronger than I thought was possible." Toguro said impressed.

His punches and kicks seemed to increase in strength and not before too long I let out a yell of agony when it looked like my barrier was about to shatter. The pain was unbearable and I felt my fear slowly turn into anger. Quite frankly I was sick and tired of the pain. Whenever this bastard is around I always end up being tortured in one way or another. The fact that he seemed to think he could get away with it pissed me off. I wasn't someone who would just lie down and take it!

I forced myself to stand back up as I looked at him with a glare. I threw all fear and caution out the window and let my anger take over as I charged at him. There was no other option but to retaliate if I wanted this to end.

He looked at me in genuine surprise as the barrier disappeared.

"I've had enough of you!" I shouted angrily.

I brought my right fist back as blue energy surrounded it and punched him in the stomach with as much force as I could. My punch didn't actually do anything to him and I looked at him in disbelief. What is this guy? Even his older brother was hurt when I punched him with my energy.

Exhaustion took over me and I fell to my hands and knees when I found myself unable to stand any longer. My head continued to throb in pain and the energy around my hand disappeared. Now that there was nothing between us I felt completely vulnerable. If he went to attack me, there was nothing I could do against him, absolutely nothing.

"It looks like you really weren't as scared as Urameshi and you're much more powerful than him at the moment." Toguro said impressed.

"What in the hell do you want from me?!" I shouted as I completely lost any composure that I had.

He was wrong about one thing. I was afraid, more afraid than he could possibly imagine. I just take it differently than most.

"Two months from now, somewhere, there will be a martial arts tournament held."

"Martial arts tournament?" I asked weakly.

"Are you really inviting her to the Dark Tournament?" Minamino asked in disbelief.

"The Dark Tournament?" I asked.

"It's a tournament where the rich and powerful people, who use the underworld to manipulate things behind the scenes, gather themselves, and those among them who are confident that they are the strongest will participate in teams of six members, fighting until one of them is dead. The humans participate in it for the money and the amusement, and the demons for the blood and the hedonism. You, Urameshi, Kuwabara, Hiei, and Kurama will be the guests of this Dark Tournament. If you decline, I will kill you right here. Become stronger, like your life depended on it. Winning is the only way for you to survive." Toguro said.

"W-What?" I asked with wide eyes.

Why in the hell am I being involved in something like this?!

He didn't say anything as he walked over to his trench coat.

"She's only a human. She has no connection to the Demon Realm!" Minamino said to him as he tried to reason with him.

"She can't even use her powers effectively. It's like sending a sheep to the slaughter." Hiei said tensely.

"Either she joins and has a chance to live by fighting or she refuses and dies here. Those are her only two options. Help her get stronger if you don't want to see her die in the tournament. It will be her only chance of survival." Toguro said as he put on his trench coat.

"...Fine. Fine, I'll compete." I said as I looked up at him with a determined expression on my face despite my fear.

I don't have much of a choice from the sounds of it.

A smirk appeared on his lips before he spoke.

"I thought you would say that. After all, you're far too stubborn to let yourself die so easily. I'll see you in the tournament (Name)." he said with a smirk before he started to walk away.

I watched him from my spot on the ground as he disappeared behind the darkness of the thick trees around us. I was officially a contestant in the Dark Tournament...


	9. Chapter 9: A Case of Too Much Pride

**A/N:**

This is a disclaimer. I own nothing except for my characters! All other characters belong to the creator of Yu Yu Hakusho! Please do not repost this story without my permission.

Any constructive criticism is welcome. Tell me what you think.

Sorry for making all of you wait so long for this part! I hope you like it! I've had to spend the last few weeks teaching my dad how to use a smartphone and an app for his work and my car has been acting up the last few days. I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas!

* * *

 **Chapter 9: A Case of Too Much Pride**

I stayed on my hands and knees while pain continued to course through my head. Toguro had been gone for at least twenty minutes before I could finally compose myself enough to think clearly despite my headache. During that time, my mind played over what had just taken place over and over again.

I had no idea what this Dark Tournament was. All I could gather was that it was an extremely dangerous martial arts tournament and if I didn't compete in it I would instantly be killed. Why would Toguro want me to be involved in it? Was I really that interesting? I didn't even know how to use my newly found powers. It's only by luck that I've been able to use them. It was also extremely obvious he was a lot stronger than I was. He didn't even flinch when I managed to punch him. Knowing all of that, how could I be interesting to him?

Minamino gazed down at me with a concerned expression on his face without saying anything. Hiei had a frown on his lips while staring in the direction Toguro had disappeared into the darkness of the thick trees.

It took me a few more minutes to be able to stand up. I still felt completely exhausted and my head still hurt but it was manageable.

"I'm going for a walk. You guys don't have to follow me anymore since Toguro's accomplished what he wanted to do. Thanks for trying to help," I said calmly while hiding what I was really feeling.

There was an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach as I took a step forward to head over to the park.

What in the hell am I going to do now that I'm being forced to compete in the Dark Tournament? How can I learn how to use my powers?

"Wait," Minamino called out to me.

"What?" I asked as I stopped walking and looked over at him.

"What are you planning to do about all of this?"

I stared at him for a few moments without saying anything and then looked away from him towards the darkness of the thick trees.

"I don't know," I whispered as I gave him an honest answer.

"I think we should head over to Yusuke-san's place. We might be able to figure something out."

My body tensed up and I quickly looked back over at him.

That's the last thing I want to do. Knowing Yusuke, he'd be frantic with worry... Kazuma would be the same way.

I really had no intention of seeing them again when I left Yusuke's apartment. This tournament was getting in the way of that plan... Damn Toguro.

"It's fine. We don't need to go all the way over there. It's not like there's anything we can do about the situation anyway. I'm in the tournament no matter how much anyone protests against the idea. If I don't fight, I'll be killed," I said calmly.

He gazed at me for a few moments without saying anything as if he was observing me. Hiei was doing the same thing.

"How can you remain so calm in a situation like this? Your life is on the line. Even Yusuke-san didn't recover from the invitation as quickly as you have and he's grown accustomed to dangerous situations like this," Minamino said seriously.

"I just have to roll with the punches and hope I can land on my feet without getting too badly scathed. It's useless to have a nervous breakdown just because of something like this."

""Just because of something like this"? Are you taking this matter seriously? Do you understand the situation you're in?" he asked me with a frown on his lips.

"Of course I am. It's not every day I receive a death threat. Either I don't attend the tournament and die, or I compete and possibly die anyway for some sick bastard's enjoyment. That's the current situation, right?"

Hiei and Minamino didn't say anything in response. I could tell they were both trying to decide how to respond to the way I was acting. They had no idea how worried I really was about all of this.

"I do have somewhat of an idea of what he's capable of. After all, I did deal with him and his older brother for the last three months. My main problem is I don't know how I'm going to train to use my powers. I don't even know what I'm capable of."

How can I learn how to use them in only two months? After all this, am I still just going to die anyway?

That thought alone was enough to make my stomach tighten again and this time I felt my body begin to shake. I laughed humorlessly and lifted my hands up to look at them as I watched them shake uncontrollably.

"This is ridiculous. Why am I so scared? I can handle being tortured, but I can't handle something like this? Am I really that afraid to die?" I asked myself with a weak smile.

Minamino walked over to me and placed his hand on my left shoulder. I gazed up at him and saw the look of concern on his face as he looked at me.

"Being afraid of death is a normal response. No one is going to fault you for being afraid," he said.

"I didn't care before. Why should I now? Why do I now?" I asked myself while looking into his green eyes.

His eyes widened along with Hiei's as they looked at me in surprise. There was a look of realization on both of their faces as if something had just occurred to them.

I didn't really have a chance to dwell on their reactions to my words. My thoughts went back to the time I met Yukina and everything that has happened until now before my eyes widened in realization.

Yukina... That's what had changed. During that time I was forced to care about whether or not I lived, all for her. She cried when I was tortured and worried about me a great deal until it was time for her to go back home where the other Ice Apparitions lived. She actually gave a damn about whether or not I lived. Her feelings had unknowingly managed to make me value my life even if it was just a little. She made me feel like someone actually did care about me on a deep personal level. Even if I never see her again, I knew without a benefit of a doubt she would cry if she ever found out I died. I didn't want her to cry again, not because of me.

I put my hands back down as I shook my head in order to try to focus my thoughts on the current problem and forced myself to calm down.

"In any case, as I said before, even if I decided to have a nervous break down it wouldn't do any good would it? I have to focus on what I can do to gain control over these powers I have, it's either that or I'll die during the tournament."

"Pretending to be strong is futile. If you don't value your life, then it's a waste of time for us to help you. You should have accepted Toguro's offer to kill you if you have a death wish. We don't need a weakling like you on our team. You'll only get in the way," Hiei said bluntly.

There was a hint of annoyance on his face while he stared at me.

"Hiei?" Minamino asked in confusion and surprise as he turned around and looked at him.

Several things he said struck a nerve. I immediately took offense to his words and glared at him.

Who in the hell does this guy think he is?! I'm a waste of time?! I should have just accepted Toguro's offer to kill me?! I'm weak?! I'll get in the way?!

"Why you...!" I shouted out angrily.

The pain in my head became worse due to my shouting, but I chose to ignore it and took a step forward to do something to him. Minamino put his arm out and stopped me while he continued to look at Hiei with confusion on his face. I made a sound of annoyance and then spoke since I knew Minamino wouldn't let me try to do anything.

"Who in the hell do you think you are?! How could you out of all people tell me I'm weak when Toguro threw you into that tree behind you with ease?! You're nothing compared to him either!" I shouted as I pointed at the tree he was standing in front of.

I wanted to hold my head in pain as Hiei looked at me a little more annoyed but I wasn't finished talking and continued to speak.

"Who are you to say I'm a waste of time?! Do you really think I'd just let someone kill me off?! Death wish or not I'm not the type of person who will just sit idly while someone tries to kill me!"

"So you do have a death wish," Hiei stated as the expression on his face became even more annoyed.

"That's none of your business you baboon!"

"(Name)-san-" Minamino said while looking at Hiei nervously as he glared at me for the insult.

"This really is a waste of time," Hiei said with a scoff.

"Shut up until you know what you're talking about! Who in the hell said I wanted your help anyway?! I'm fine on my own!" I shouted at him.

"You really think you can teach yourself how to use your powers?" Hiei asked me with a smirk on his face as he looked at me in amusement.

I opened my mouth to say something but I couldn't come up with an answer to his question. I knew I couldn't answer it. As a result, I glared at him in annoyance and shut my mouth. The smirk on his lips became wider while I looked at him in thought.

The only time my powers activated was if I felt like I was in danger. I couldn't control them. I didn't even know how to activate them. Those were the facts and I knew it. Nevertheless, my pride wouldn't let what he said slide and I finally spoke.

"Of course I can! I don't need you or anyone else to help me!" I shouted.

Hiei and Minamino looked at me in surprise before I finally marched away from them with anger coursing through every part of my being.

Who in the hell does that bastard think he is?! How could someone like that be Yukina's brother?! He's nothing like her! The only damn thing they share is the eyes and their height!

My head was pounding while I marched through the city with an extremely pissed off expression on my face. I still didn't feel like I should go to the apartment just yet. The fact my mother had been there the other night made me extremely reluctant to go there until it was ten at night.

While I was walking on the sidewalk, I heard a familiar voice speak from behind me.

"Well, well, well if it isn't little (Name)."

I stopped walking and looked at the person from over my shoulder.

"Tokigawa?" I asked with a hint of annoyance in my voice.

I never did like it when people called me little.

Tokigawa was a boy around my age. He had short brown hair that was parted to the right and brown eyes. His outfit was a black jumpsuit that was similar to Yusuke's and Kazuma's. There was the hint of a bruise on his left cheek where I had punched him a couple of nights ago.

Togashi, Tasuke, Sohma, Takahashi, and Kinomoto were standing behind him covered in bruises due to their encounter with me earlier today. With them were seven others who were part of Tokigawa's gang. The two groups were well acquainted with each other and have come together on more than a few occasions to try to beat me up.

"You five are here for another beating?" I asked Togashi and his gang with a sadistic smirk on my face as I turned around to face the group.

The annoyance they felt from my words was apparent as they glared at me and I decided to speak again.

"Good. Why don't all of you let me use you as punching bags again? You're here, and I'm extremely pissed off at the moment."

Tokigawa looked at me with a glare along with the rest of his gang.

"As if we would let you beat us again! Let's go!" Tokigawa shouted angrily.

All of them charged at me and my smirk widened as I stared at them.

"You must be weak if all of you feel like you need to attack me all at once," I said mockingly.

The words I had spoken reminded me of what Hiei said to me and I glared at the two gangs coldly as I quickly ran towards them. If they wanted a beating that badly, I'll give it to them like I always do.

When the fight was over, they had managed to hit me a few times but they were the ones who sustained the most damage. All of them were on the ground covered in bruises. Tokigawa and Togashi were groaning in pain while the others were unconscious because of the beating I had given them.

I fought back a flinch as pain coursed through my head and my right hand. A glare appeared on my face while I looked down at my hand and stared at the bruise and scab on my palm. The fight had done little to calm me down, and the pain in my hand was only making my mood worse. There were a wide range of emotions still flowing through me anger, bitterness, worry, loneliness, confusion, and fear.

"You... We'll get you back for this," Tokigawa said weakly.

My eyes found my way to him and Togashi as they glared at me before I let out a scoff.

"You'll never be strong enough to fight me," I said coldly before I turned around and walked away from them.

I still had a scowl on my face when I made it to the apartment at ten. The apartment was completely dark, but I still looked around to make sure my mother wasn't here. When I felt satisfied, I walked back over to the apartment door and closed it. Afterwards, I had to fight the urge to walk over to the breaker and began my usual nightly routine. I cooked myself dinner and ate by myself in the living room before I worked on my homework until it was finally time to go to sleep once again...


	10. Chapter 10: Ruler of the Spirit Realm

**A/N:**

Here is the next chapter to the story everyone! I hope you like it! Let me know what you guys think of it! Thank you for all the support I've receive so far! I greatly appreciate it!

* * *

 **Chapter 10: Ruler of the Spirit Realm**

I stood at the base of a tree in the clearing where my encounter with Toguro took place while glaring down at my extremely bruised and bleeding hands. Rain was falling from the sky, and I was completely drenched. After a few moments, a yell of frustration came from my lips as I pulled my right fist back. I punched the tree over and over again like I had been before to vent out my anger.

Two weeks have gone by since the night I was forced to accept my invitation to the Dark Tournament. Every day that passed I became more irritable. At this point I was beyond frustrated. I was mad, hysterical, extremely worried and afraid. I've tried to figure out a way to use my powers but so far nothing has worked. Despite that fact, I've continued to try over and over again to see if they will somehow emerge. That's why my hands were in such bad condition.

The next day I went to school with the usual scowl on my face but it was a lot more pronounced because of the situation. Minamino was sitting in his seat next to me for the first time in two weeks. I was pretty sure he had been training for the Dark Tournament which was something that I was supposed to be doing. Instead, I was wasting my time going to school because I knew if I didn't I would be forced to deal with my mother again.

"Good morning, (Name)-san." he said as he greeted me with a small smile.

I nodded my head and then sat down at my desk.

"I'm surprised you're here." I said while looking out the window.

Hiei or the idiot as I had dubbed him in my head was sitting in a tree which wasn't that far away from our classroom window. His eyes were closed, and he had his hands behind his head looking as if he had no cares in the world. His attitude only seemed to irritate me even more.

"Why is he here?" I asked annoyed.

"Do you mind if we talk after school?" Minamino asked.

I looked over at him for a few moments in thought and then sighed.

"Fine."

If he had something to talk to me about it must be important. I'm fairly certain that he wouldn't be here today if it wasn't. He was in the same position as I was. None of us had time to waste doing nothing. All of us had to become stronger.

All day my thoughts were consumed by the fact that I didn't have control of my powers. However, even though Minamino and the idiot were here I wasn't going to ask for help. I especially wasn't going to ask the idiot. My pride wouldn't allow it. I couldn't even ask Minamino for help now that I had said I didn't need it, not that I would have anyway. I'm not the type of person to ask for it.

After school I followed Minamino up the stairs to the roof of the building where I was greeted by the sight of the idiot. He turned around with his hands in his pockets and Minamino walked over to him while I kept a little distance between them and me.

"What do you want?" I asked.

Minamino and the idiot looked over at me.

"Koenma said he wanted to meet you." Minamino said.

"Who?" I asked with a perplexed expression on my face.

"The ruler of the Spirit Realm."

"And what exactly is the Spirit Realm?" I asked wearily.

"It's where the dead go for judgment before they pass on."

"How am I going to meet him? I'm not dead."

"There are ways for you to go there even if you're alive."

I gave him an incredulous look as I nodded my head.

I'm sure I would think he was just trying to pull my leg if I wouldn't have seen the Demon Realm with my very own eyes. Also, meeting Yukina and the Toguro brothers and knowing who Minamino was gave me enough reason to believe him. He wasn't the type of person to try to get on my bad side.

"Why does this guy want to meet me? I have nothing to do with the Spirit Realm as far as I know."

"He wants to talk to you about the Dark Tournament."

"What is there to talk about? I'm in it and that's all there is to it." I said with a frown.

"You're still going to put up a useless brave front?" the idiot asked bluntly.

I looked over at him with an annoyed expression on my face.

"He wants to talk to you about your training." Minamino said before I could come up with a response.

"What about it? I'm doing just fine on my own." I said evenly as I lied to both of them.

The idiot let out a scoff and I looked over at him annoyed again.

"If you have something to say then say it, you bastard!" I shouted.

"You haven't figured out a way to train yourself. You're just as weak as you were before." he said bluntly.

"I'm weak?! Who was it that was thrown into a tree?! At least I managed to punch him!" I shouted at him.

That response made him look at me extremely annoyed and just as he opened his mouth to say something Minamino stepped in.

"Stop Hiei, if you provoke her there's no way she'll agree to come with us."

"Why should I come with?! I'm perfectly fine on my own!" I shouted angrily.

I turned around and made my way towards the door to the building with an extremely annoyed look on my face.

"Wait!" Minamino called out to me.

"No. I'm leaving. There's nothing more to say to either of you. As that idiot so kindly pointed out, I have to figure out how to use my powers. I don't have time to spare on anything else." I said with annoyance clearly written in my voice.

"You really are stubborn. You're going to be killed if you don't let us help you." Minamino said as he tried to reason with me.

I opened the door and spoke.

"It's more of the fact I have too much pride. You know as well as I do that I never ask for help. I especially don't want to ask the idiot standing next to you for it."

"Please (Name)-san, think about it. I don't want to watch you die and I'm sure that if Yukina-san were here she would be pleading for you to accept our help." he said with a hint of desperation in his voice.

I stopped myself from walking through the door due to his words and a memory of Yukina crying filled my mind.

I knew he was right. She would plead with me to ask them for help and I'm sure she would have tears in her eyes. I didn't want to see her cry again.

"You just had to bring up Yukina didn't you?" I whispered with a sigh as my shoulders slumped a little.

"Please accept our offer to help you."

I silently turned around to look at him and the idiot. Minamino was staring at me with a hint of desperation on his face while the idiot was silently observing me with a neutral expression. Another sigh escaped my lips, and I spoke begrudgingly.

"Fine, I'll accept your offer. I don't have much of a choice. Nothing I've tried seems to work and quite frankly it's starting to piss me off."

"Will you also meet Koenma?" he asked with relief in his voice.

"I suppose I can. It's not like I have anything better to do right now anyway." I said as I nodded my head.

After that the three of us walked through the door to get inside of the building. As we walked through the school hallways and into the classroom, quite a few girls looked at the idiot and Minamino with blushes on their faces.

It was normal for them to look at Minamino like that. Even I thought he was handsome. However, I didn't understand why they were also looking at the idiot that way. It just showed how superficial they were. He may be somewhat attractive but if they knew his personality they wouldn't go near the bastard. The fact that Yusuke, Kazuma, and Minamino stick around him is amazing considering how he only seems to be able to irritate me. But, I also knew that if Yusuke was able to trust him he must have some sort of redeeming quality I didn't know about. He also seemed to have some sort of soft side considering the way he treated Yukina.

When the girls in my class didn't think I was looking, a few of them also glared at me in jealousy and extreme dislike.

The rumors about me were still going strong. I was fairly certain they thought I was going to try to sleep with them much to my annoyance. Everyone still thought I had been involved with someone dangerous and that was why I went missing for so long.

"Um..." I heard a girl say behind us just as we were about to head back into the hallway.

We stopped and turned around to look at her. There were quite a few other girls behind her as they openly glared at me.

"Minamino-san?" the same girl asked.

"What is it Watanabe-san?" Minamino asked with a small smile.

"I... We don't think you should go with her. She'll only use you like she has so many others. You'll have your heart broken by her."

My right eyebrow twitched in annoyance as she decided to look over at the idiot.

"You too, she's up to no good."

"What are you talking about?" the idiot asked.

"She's the type of person who sleeps with others for fun and gets involved with extremely dangerous people."

"I can assure you that the reason we're leaving together has nothing to do with the rumors you've heard. All those rumors are baseless." Minamino said.

"But..."

A scoff came from my lips before I turned around and began to walk away.

"Let's go. There's no point in talking to them. They'll believe whatever they want to."

When we made it to the school gate, the two boys walked in front of me and led me to an abandoned building in the middle of the city. I followed them down into the basement and my eyes widened in surprise when Minamino opened a hidden door that was in the floor. I found myself walking over to the edge of the floor to see if I could get a better look at the secret area below. Unfortunately, all I could see was fog.

"What is this?" I asked with surprise in my voice.

"This will lead us directly to the Spirit Realm where Koenma resides." Minamino explained.

An incredulous expression appeared on my face and I looked over at him skeptically.

"How? You told me the Spirit Realm was where dead people go. How can there be a door in this place to get to it?"

"There are doors everywhere that lead to it if you know where to look."

"What?" I asked in disbelief.

I heard the idiot scoff behind us before he spoke.

"We don't have time for this."

When I tried to turn around to look at him, I was shoved from behind and my eyes widened in surprise as I fell through the hole. A sound of alarm came from my lips when I realized I was falling from the sky.

"Hiei?!" I heard Minamino shout in surprise and disbelief.

That bastard shoved me!

I turned my body around to face them and looked up at the idiot as my hair flew forward.

"You son of a bitch! I'll kick your ass!" I shouted up at him with anger in my voice.

They jumped through the door and followed after me while I glared at the idiot who simply ignored me. I turned my body around once again and looked down at the area that was far below us as my hair flew back.

Beneath us was an area at the very top of a large mountain range. At its center was a massive castle that had a long, winding, stone pathway leading up to it. I couldn't see anything beyond that because of the fog covering up the area a little ways underneath the tops of the mountains and just below the pathway.

Minamino and the idiot didn't seem like they were worried about the fact we were quickly approaching the stone pathway that was directly below us. I, on the other hand, was extremely worried about it. I tried telling myself that I'd be fine considering how they were acting but I couldn't actually convince myself it was true. My heart raced inside of my chest when I felt like the pathway was too close for comfort and my fear finally took over. A scream came from my lips when we were only a couple of car lengths away from the ground. I had finally reached my breaking point, and I tightly closed my eyes. My body almost instantly stopped falling while the familiar feeling of my energy flowed through me and I heard something like an explosion go off from underneath me.

It was silent for a few moments until I heard Minamino sigh and he spoke from a little ways below.

"Hiei, you shouldn't have pushed her."

"How was I to know she would be able to use her barrier to protect herself?" the idiot responded.

I hesitantly opened my eyes when I felt like it was safe to do so. Unfortunately, the sight that greeted me was a severe drop directly beneath me where I had managed to destroy a section of the pathway. I presumed it was a severe drop anyway. I couldn't actually see through the fog to tell if it was.

Even though I knew I didn't know if it really was a severe drop, I couldn't rationalize it properly in my mind. It was enough to send fear coursing through every part of my being once again. A yell of fear came from my lips and the barrier surrounding me strengthened as it grew a little larger.

"Idiot! If you do that, you'll destroy even more of the pathway!" the idiot yelled at me.

I looked down at the idiot and Minamino who were standing in front of me with a scared expression on my face. This time, I was too afraid to hide the amount of fear I felt. They looked at me with varying degrees of surprise.

After a few moments, the idiot closed his eyes and sighed.

"You don't have to be afraid. We're not going to let you fall." he said.

When he opened his eyes, our eyes locked. I stared into them for a few moments as I searched for anything that would make me doubt his words but I found nothing. Instead, I found myself being drawn into them like before and somehow with a single look I felt like I could trust him.

I slowly reached my right hand out towards him as I took a leap of faith and decided to trust him, at least for the time being. Somehow I felt myself calm down little by little as I continued to stare into his red eyes that seemed so familiar to me. The barrier around me slowly weakened and my body began to descend little by little. Once it completely disappeared, I began to free fall once again. My eyes widened in surprise when he suddenly disappeared and then reappeared in front of me only seconds later. He had moved so fast I couldn't follow his movements.

He caught me in his arms without much effort and landed safely on the other side of the pathway while holding me bridal style. As he stood up straight, the earthy scent I had smelled the last time I was in his arms filled my nostrils.

I was reminded of the fact he had asked Minamino to help me out when I was poisoned. And he had just saved me again. I didn't really want to admit it. In fact, I wanted to blame him for the whole situation that had just taken place. But, I also felt like I should thank him since he did help me out and I never had the chance to the first time. He may irritate me, but I wasn't completely unreasonable. I knew when thanks were due.

He turned around and jumped back over to the other side of the pathway. I opened my mouth to say something before he suddenly dropped me onto the ground next to Minamino's feet. A grunt of pain came from my lips as he started to walk towards the large castle doors.

"Ow! What the hell! Here I was about to thank you and then you do something asinine like that! Idiot!" I shouted at him annoyed as I rubbed my back side.

Minamino let out a chuckle and I looked over at him in annoyance as he shook his head in amusement.

"That's just the way he is (Name)-san. Don't take it personally."

"So he's almost always an asshole?" I asked as he extended his hand out towards me.

He didn't say anything in response while he looked at me in amusement. I took his hand and he helped me back up onto my feet. I followed him as he walked towards the doors to the castle where the idiot was already standing as he waited for us.

"It's Kurama and Hiei." Minamino said into the intercom once we reached the doors.

The massive metal doors opened and revealed a long dark hallway that led to some unknown place. The idiot was the first person to walk inside. Minamino and I silently followed him down the long dark corridor as I looked around.

When we made it to the end of the hallway, there was another large set of doors blocking our path. Minamino walked over to another intercom and spoke into it.

"It's Kurama and Hiei. We've brought (First Name) (Last Name)."

"Okay come in." I heard a man say from the other side.

Once the large metal doors opened and I was able to see into the next room, my eyes widened in surprise.

There were red, green, and blue humanlike creatures with horns on their heads and pointed ears all over the place. All of them were wearing skirts that reminded me of what cavemen would wear. They were either sitting at their office desks which were placed all over the room or running around like crazy while carrying large stacks of papers.

Massive pink pillars were all over the massive room to support the ceiling. They had a decorative area of gold at the very top where the pillars connected with the ceiling. Underneath the gold was a band of green that was separated from the pink part of the pillar by a thin gold band. I also noticed random yellow clouds floating all over the place.

"What the...? What are these guys?" I asked in surprise and confusion.

The idiot acted like I didn't say anything and started to walk through the crowd along with Minamino. I quickly followed behind them so I wouldn't get lost in the commotion while I silently looked around with confusion.

"They are ogres." Minamino answered.

"Ogres? So those are real too?" I asked in surprise.

"Yes."

They led me to the other side of the room, and I noticed a pair of pink doors with a fancy gold symbol on them. I had a feeling this was where Koenma, ruler of the Spirit Realm, was.

"H-Hey! Wait!" I shouted at Minamino and the idiot as something occurred to me.

"What is it?" Minamino asked me in confusion.

"This is the ruler of the Spirit Realm right? Are you sure that this is what I should be wearing when I meet him? What about you? Aren't you guys underdressed?" I asked as I looked down at my school uniform.

"He won't mind. Just relax." he said with a small smile.

I watched nervously as the idiot opened the doors and we walked into the next room.

It was an office. At the other end of the room was a desk with a tall red chair behind it which was turned so the back of it was facing us.

"It looks like you've managed to get her to come here. Good work." I heard a male voice say from behind the tall red chair.

Once the chair turned around, I stared at the person with an incredulous look on my face.

It was a cute baby boy that had a blue binky in his mouth. He had soft looking light brown eyes and short brown hair. The child had on a long sleeved blue top that had black edging and pink cuffs on the sleeves. There was a red sash tied around his waist. He had khaki pants and black shoes on his feet. On top of his small head, he had a tall blue oblong hat with a red circle at the center of it that had thick black edging. In the circle was a black symbol. There was also pink along the bottom of it over the child's forehead with the word Jr on it at the center of his forehead.

I couldn't stop myself from marching over to the child and picked him up with confusion written on my face. There weren't any speakers that I could see on him.

"Is this a joke? It's not that I mind seeing the kid. In fact, he's a pretty cute baby. But you can't seriously expect me to believe that this is the ruler of the Spirit Realm." I said while I continued to examine the child.

"Someone needs their head examined." the idiot said bluntly.

I looked at him in annoyance as I held the baby close to my chest.

"What?! You're the one who needs his head examined! What kind of idiot do you two take me for, idiot?! Kuwabara and Urameshi might be stupid enough to buy this but I'm not!"

The idiot looked at me in annoyance while Minamino looked like he was trying not to be amused.

"U-Uh... P-Please, can you let me go?" I heard the same male voice say from very close to me.

I quickly looked down at the baby whose face was in my chest. He had a blush on his cheeks as I loosened my hold on him.

"As it would so happen to be, I am Koenma." the baby said while looking up at me.

All I could do was blink at him for a few moments while I tried to process what in the hell just happened. An incredulous look finally appeared on my face and I slowly opened my mouth to speak.

"Talking babies isn't a normal thing where I come from. Are you some sort of midget that looks like a baby? There's no way that the Spirit Realm could be ruled by a toddler." I said bluntly.

I heard Minamino let out a noise and I looked over at him along with the baby who was claiming to be Koenma. Minamino was biting his thumb while trying to stop a laugh from coming out of his lips. The idiot was looking at me with the hint of an amused smirk on his lips.

"I guess you at least didn't laugh at me." Koenma said a little put out as I looked back over at him.

"But if you're a midget, why do you have a binky in your mouth? Do you have some sort of weird complex?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not a midget!" Koenma shouted at me angrily as he thrashed about.

I looked at him with surprise and held him away from me with my arms extended out as far as they could go. He looked at me with an extremely annoyed expression on his face, and I decided to place him back down on his chair.

How in the hell am I supposed to take all of this? If I hadn't been just holding him and if I wouldn't have just seen his mouth move, I wouldn't believe any of this.

"Despite how I appear, I've lived fifty times longer than you have. So watch your mouth!" he said indignantly while pointing at me.

"But you look like a toddler." I said bluntly.

I looked over at the idiot and Minamino and a thought occurred to me as I smirked.

"I guess though that must make the idiot here feel a little bit better about his height since he's a guy and all."

Annoyance appeared on the idiots face again. Before I could even react, I had the tip of a Katana against my neck and he was suddenly standing directly in front of me. He opened his mouth to say something but I didn't let him say whatever it was. My body reacted on its own as I felt a surge of power rush through it and I kicked him in the stomach with blue energy around my foot. A grunt of pain came from his lips as his eyes widened in surprise while he stared at me. His body flew back into the wall that was on the other side of the room. The impact was great enough to cause a decent sized crater in the wall and dust temporarily covered the area where he was.

My eyes were wide while I looked at the scene in disbelief along with Minamino and Koenma. As the dust cleared, I noticed the idiot was unconscious while sitting on the floor with his back against the wall. Minamino and Koenma turned their heads to look at me. The scene reminded me of the time I punched the older Toguro brother but this time it seemed like my attack was a lot stronger than before.

I've never kicked someone so hard that they've made a crater in the wall! It wasn't entirely my intention to do that to him!

"It looks like you are quite powerful. Under normal circumstance you wouldn't have been able to kick Hiei across the room." Koenma said with a seriously expression on his face.

"What's going on exactly? Why do I suddenly have these powers? I pride myself in my strength during a fight, but I've never been able to hit someone that hard." I asked him wearily as I looked over at him.

"Kurama's told me everything that he knows about the situation. There is only one explanation I can come up with. When you were bitten by the bug demon, you must have developed psychic powers while you were fighting against the poison. It's quite remarkable that you were able to live with the poison in your blood stream for so long. Even most demons wouldn't have survived. What I don't understand is how you came into contact with the demon to begin with."

Minamino spoke up.

"I thought I told you. There seems to be a lot of them in Mushiyori City. I noticed them one night while I was taking (Name)-san home. It was around that time she also fell ill."

"I see... Yes, I think I do recall you telling me about that around five or six months ago. None of my spies could explain what was going on." Koenma said while in thought.

"While I've been training Kuwabara-kun, Hiei told me he's killed as many as he could to decrease their population. However, we don't know how long that will last. It seems to have become the perfect breeding ground for them."

I looked at him in surprise from the news and then looked over at the idiot.

It wasn't like I didn't notice I haven't had to kill as many during the last couple of weeks. The damn things didn't want to leave me alone before this. Does that mean he's been following me ever since our encounter with Toguro? Has he been trying to prevent them from biting me again?

"I'll have someone look into the situation again to see what's going on. Hopefully this time they'll be able to come up with an answer. In the meantime, (Name) you were invited to the Dark Tournament by Toguro right?" Koenma asked.

"I was." I said as I looked back over at him.

"If you want to have a chance in the tournament, I suggest you let a woman named Genkai train you. She's also Yusuke's teacher."

"Urameshi's?" I asked in surprise.

"Yes. He's currently training with her to increase his power. She should be able to teach you how to control your Spirit Energy."

I had to fight a groan from escaping my lips.

That was the last thing I wanted. Yusuke's not going to be happy about this, not one bit.

A groan came from the idiot and all of us looked over at him as he woke up. We silently watched him as he slowly stood back up. The second his eyes landed on me he glared at me with a dangerous look on his face. He disappeared from view, and I let out a sound of surprise as I was thrown onto my back. Just as I was about to attempt to sit up, the tip of his sword was against my neck once again and he was towering over me. He had his knees on both sides of my body. His left hand was next to my head while his right one firmly held the handle of his sword.

"Hiei!" Minamino shouted in alarm.

"The only reason why I'm even putting up with you is because of Yukina and Kurama. If I had the choice, I would slice your head completely off your shoulders right here and now. Take this as a warning, you better be well prepared to fight after the tournament or else I'll kill you with ease." he said to me coldly.

I stared into his eyes in thought.

This time, even though he had the tip of his sword against my neck and he was glaring at me like before, I didn't feel afraid. If he could, I'm sure he probably would try to kill me but I knew he wouldn't. He could have killed me the first time he pulled out his sword and he could have killed me just now but he didn't. He couldn't kill me. Just as he stated, Yukina and Minamino wouldn't be very happy if he did. Yusuke and Kazuma wouldn't appreciate it either.

"You want to fight me?" I asked in confusion while I continued to stare into his eyes.

"As soon as the tournament is over, I'll kill you once and for all." he said threateningly.

I knew he wasn't bluffing. He definitely intended to kill me. But I still doubted if he really could. He might find me annoying, as much as I find him, but for whatever reason he's helped me on several occasions. The moment I found out he had been killing the bug demons in Mushiyori City, I realized there was more to him than what meets the eye. Now that I think about it, he also tried to help me out when Toguro attacked my barrier. He also helped calm me down after I destroyed the pathway in front of the castle and pulled me to safety when he didn't have to. It could have been Minamino who helped me out, but he chose to instead. Even if it was only because of the Dark Tournament or because of Minamino and Yukina, he still did it. Perhaps if Yusuke can trust him then I can as well just as I did in front of the castle. He hasn't given me a reason not to trust him, at least for the time being. As much as he despises me, he can't kill me just yet if ever. Deep down I feel like he isn't as bad as he tries to make himself out to be even if he is dangerous.

We were completely silent as we continued to look into each others eyes. After a few moments, confusion appeared in his eyes. He seemed like he was searching for something.

"You're not afraid." he stated more than asked.

"No, I'm not. You can't kill me." I said honestly.

"Try me." he said threateningly as he poked my neck with the tip of his sword causing it to bleed.

"That hurts." I said annoyed.

He didn't say anything while he continued to search my eyes for any signs of fear and I sighed in response.

"There's no reason for me to be afraid of you."

He looked at me with even more annoyance. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he felt insulted.

"I didn't mean it as an insult idiot." I said bluntly.

Confusion replaced his anger while he stared into my eyes questioningly as if trying to figure out what I was thinking.

"You could have killed me twice already if you really wanted to. I'm not foolish enough to not realize it. You're fast enough that my eyes can't keep up with you. But you didn't kill me. Instead, you held back on both occasions."

He simply stared at me, but I could tell he was thinking about what I was saying while I continued to speak.

"You know as well as I do Yukina would cry if she found out that you killed me. I'm painfully aware of the fact she seems to worry about my wellbeing. I'd venture a guess and say that the last thing you'd want is to cause her pain. I'm sure you wouldn't have appeared at Tarukane's to save her if you didn't care about her."

There was a look on his face that told me I hit the nail right on the head and I spoke again.

"You also seem to be friends with Urameshi, Kuwabara and Minamino, despite your crappy personality. I know Urameshi quite well. He wouldn't give you the time of day if he didn't feel like he could trust you or didn't like you. You also calmed me down after I had destroyed a section the pathway in front of the castle. And you have helped me out when you didn't need to on more than one occasion."

"What's your point?" he asked impatiently.

"If you really wanted to, I'm sure that you're capable of killing me. However, I don't think you're as bad as you try to make yourself out to be. Your actions speak louder than your words."

His eyes widened in response while he stared at me in surprise from my remark. As he recovered from his surprise, he moved the tip of his sword away from my neck and stood up while continuing to stare into my eyes. When he turned his head to the side and broke eye contact, whatever trance I seemed to be in disappeared. I sat up as he walked towards the door of the office to leave without saying anything in response.

Once he was gone, the room was completely silent for a few moments until Minamino spoke as he looked at me.

"You really are observant. He isn't as bad as he lets on. I'm surprised though I was under the impression you didn't like him."

"I find him annoying, and I think he's an idiot. However, I can't say whether or not I dislike him. You can't always judge a book by its cover. In fact, you can't most of the time. It isn't until you open it up and read its contents that you find out its true story. Isn't that right?" I said as I stood up.

Minamino nodded his head in agreement. Koenma cleared his throat as he finally managed to get over his surprise from the events that had just taken place.

"Back to the matter at hand, you must go through extensive training during the next month and a half to improve your skills. Not only will Genkai help you but so will Kurama and Hiei."

"Who said that I would help her?" the idiot said with annoyance in his voice as he suddenly appeared in the room again.

"I thought you left." I said with a raised eyebrow.

"She needs your help to increase her speed." Koenma said.

I spoke up once again when something occurred to me.

"I have a question. Where am I going to train? I don't think it's advisable to do that in the middle of the city."

"You won't be. You'll be at Genkai's home in the middle of the mountains."

"Do you honestly think I can miss school for one and a half months? I've already missed three because of the whole Tarukane thing." I asked with an incredulous look on my face.

I really don't want to be forced to deal with my mother again either...

"I don't think you have much of a choice in the matter. If you don't train, you'll be slaughtered in the tournament."

"Point taken... But there's one problem I have with what you're suggesting."

"What is it?"

"Does this idiot really have to train me?" I asked bluntly while pointing at him with my thumb.

The idiot looked over at me annoyed once again.

"Y-Yes. Just as I said to him, he's going to help you increase your speed." Koenma said while looking at the idiot and me nervously.

I'm sure he was wondering if he was going to try to kill me again.

"There's no way I would waste my time training someone as useless as her." the idiot said bluntly.

Now it was my turn to look at him annoyed.

"Who needs your help anyway, you bastard?! I'm sure that you're too weak to train me anyway!" I shouted at him angrily.

Minamino looked at us nervously while Koenma looked at me in disbelief.

"What?" the idiot asked me with annoyance in his voice.

"I didn't stutter you prick. If Toguro can throw you into a tree like he did, you're no where near strong enough to train me. You're weak as well."

The idiot took a step towards me, and Minamino quickly grabbed his shoulder in order to stop him from attacking me.

"Calm down, Hiei. It won't do you any good to attack her. If you killed her, then we would be missing two team members instead of just one." Minamino said while trying to reason with him.

"Anyone would be stronger than she is, even Kuwabara."

"What?!" I shouted at him angrily.

This was going to be a long month and a half. I already want to strangle him!


	11. Chapter 11: Training

**A/N:**

Here's the next chapter guys! I hope you like it! Let me know what you guys think! I appreciate the support I've received so far!

* * *

 **Chapter 11: Training**

"What are you doing?" the idiot asked with annoyance in his voice.

"I'm wandering around the city like I usually do." I said.

He let out a scoff and spoke.

"We don't have time-"

"I'm not forcing you to follow me." I said evenly as I stopped walking and turned around to look at him.

Once the meeting with Koenma ended, I headed back to the Human Realm with Minamino and the idiot. They've been following me around the city until I deem it safe to actually go to the apartment. The idiot, however, seemed to be growing impatient about the whole thing. He has another thing coming if he thinks his attitude is going to stop me from doing what I usual do to avoid my mother. I wasn't going to speed things up just for his convenience.

He and Minamino stopped walking as well.

"You've been stalking me enough to know I don't usually go to the apartment right away. I'm not about to change the way I do things just because you lack the patience for it." I said bluntly.

He looked at me extremely annoyed while Minamino put his hand on his shoulder.

"Calm down Hiei."

After that Minamino looked at me and spoke.

"(Name)-san, we really mustn't delay any further. We only have a month and a half to train. The sooner we make it to Genkai's the better. I've already gathered up the information we need for the bus ride there. It will leave tonight at eleven."

"You act like you already knew I would be going." I said with a raised eyebrow.

"You were never one to not listen to reason. I had a feeling if you let us talk to you that you would allow us to help you with your training."

In other words, he knew what to say to convince me otherwise...

I gazed at him for a few moments and then sighed.

I'm sure if I don't agree to head there, they'll start asking questions I don't want to answer. It wasn't like we really had time to walk around and all of us knew it. We only had so much time before the tournament. Every moment was precious.

"Fine. I know it's going to take me some time to get ready so I guess we can head over to the apartment."

At least it's already dark. Hopefully, my mother won't be there.

Eight o'clock came around when I finally returned to the apartment with both of them still behind me. I took out my key and unlocked the door. There was a little hesitation in my movements that I hoped they didn't notice as I slowly opened it. A quiet sigh of relief came from my lips when I noticed the apartment was completely dark and felt myself relax. Even though I wasn't able to check out the area without making them suspicious of something, I felt a little bit of comfort knowing they were there. My mother wouldn't do anything to me while they were around. It would look bad.

I walked into the apartment and turned on the living room light.

"I'm going to go pack. Make yourselves at home." I said as I walked towards my room.

"Yes. Thank you, (Name)-san." Minamino said politely.

Once I stepped into my room, I shut the door and locked it so I could have some privacy. I headed over to my closet and pulled out a large green duffle bag to pack everything I was going to take with me. It took me about an hour to completely fill the bag with things I thought I needed. It was full of clothes I knew would be suited for training, a hairbrush, my toothbrush, tooth paste, some pocket knives I still had, and hairpins. Afterwards, I decided to take a quick shower and changed into a plain black sleeveless t-shirt, blue jeans and white socks. I dried my hair and put it up into a high ponytail as I headed back into my room.

I double checked to make sure I had everything I needed and then grabbed my headphones and placed them around my neck. I picked up my Walkman from the bed and my duffle bag and then headed out of my room for what could be the last time. Minamino and the idiot were silently sitting on the couch in the living room while they looked around. I narrowed my eyes in annoyance the moment I realized the idiot had his shoes on top of the small table in front of the couch.

"I'd appreciate it if you kept your feet off the table. I don't need to deal with cleaning if off before we can leave because you had the bright idea to get it dirty."

He just looked at me defiantly and my right eye twitched in annoyance. I decided to retaliate and threw my duffle bag at him to vent out my frustration. His eyes widened in surprise as it hit him.

"What? Did you honestly expect me to not do anything?" I asked with annoyance in my voice.

The idiot stood up as he glared at me and pulled his sword out. The tip of the blade was once again at my throat.

"Hiei!" Minamino said in alarm as he quickly stood up.

"Again? Haven't we already been through this song and dance?" I asked with a calm expression on my face.

At least his feet were off the table.

The glare on his face worsened, and Minamino grabbed his shoulder to stop him from doing anything to me.

"Don't Hiei."

"By the way, thanks for taking your feet off of it." I said as I smirked.

His eyes widened in surprise along with Minamino's as I took a step back to get the blade away from my neck.

"I'm packed. I just need to eat dinner and then we can leave. Do you guys want anything to eat?" I asked as if what had previously happened didn't occur.

"Y-Yes, if that's all right with you. Hiei and I haven't eaten all day." Minamino said with a nod once he recovered from his surprise.

"I wouldn't have asked if it wasn't. If you guys want something to eat before hand, I also have some ice cream in the fridge."

The idiot looked at me with confusion on his face.

"What? Haven't you heard of ice cream before either?" I asked him with a perplexed look on my face.

"No, he hasn't. Ice cream isn't in the Demon Realm." Minamino answered for him.

"I see. That explains a lot. I always wondered why Yukina didn't know what it was when I gave her some for the first time." I said with realization on my face.

"What?" the idiot asked as he and Minamino looked at me in confusion.

Why do I have a feeling this is going to be a long explanation? Why do they look so confused?

"I'll make us some food, and we can talk while we're eating."

"Y-Yes." Minamino said with confusion still on his face.

I strapped my Walkman to my pants pocket and placed my headphones over my ears as I headed into the kitchen. It took me a little longer than usual to make dinner since I was cooking for three instead of one. When I finished, I placed the food on some plates and walked into the living room a few times to put all of it down onto the table.

"Enjoy." I said as I placed my headphones around my neck and sat down onto the floor in front of the living room chair that was behind me.

"Yes." Minamino said with a look of wonder on his face.

"It isn't that surprising is it?" I asked him with a hint of amusement in my voice.

"What?" he asked as he looked over at me.

"The fact I can actually cook. Is it really that surprising?"

"It is a little." he said honestly.

We were silent for a few moments as we ate together until the idiot broke the silence.

"Why would you be giving Yukina something to eat?"

"She stayed here for about a month after I had helped her one night." I informed them.

"You didn't meet at the compound?" Minamino asked as he and the idiot looked at me in surprise.

Yukina didn't tell them about living in the apartment?

"No. She managed to get away from Tarukane, and I just so happened to be there while she was running away from his men. I let her stay in my room where I thought she'd be safe but somehow they managed to locate her... It still doesn't make sense to me. She never left the apartment, and I was the only one who knew about her. Even my mother didn't know." I said in thought.

"Are you sure it wasn't your mother?"

"Yes. My mother would have thrown her out if she would have known what was going on and I'm sure she would have yelled at me."

Among other things...

"How are you so sure she didn't find out about her? She could have been like the rest of you humans and handed her over for a certain sum of money." the idiot asked.

That's a legitimate question even if I don't like the accusation.

"Do you honestly think Tarukane would have offered my mother money? He would have killed her long before that. Besides, we had a system in place to make sure she was kept a secret. In the morning I locked the door to my room and asked her to stay inside until I came back to the apartment. At night when I came back, I switched off the breaker three times to tell her it was safe to leave the room."

"If you didn't meet her at the compound, how did you find it? How did you end up there with her?" Minamino asked.

"I was lucky enough to catch them in the act. They broke into this place in order to kidnap her a few minutes before I made it back. One thing eventually led to another and I was able to hot wire a car to follow the men who were trying to get Yukina to Tarukane's cottage."

"You hot wired a car?" he asked in surprise.

"Why do you look so surprised? You should know of my reputation. We do go to school together. Most of the things they say aren't true, especially nowadays, but there are some truths."

"You're a lot more resourceful than I thought." he said while blinking at me.

"I'll take that as a compliment." I said with a smirk on my lips.

"What is she talking about?" the idiot asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"What is hot wiring?"

"That's redoing the electrical inside of a car, so I can steal it without the key to the ignition." I said with a grin.

The idiot looked at me in surprise.

"(Name)-san, you're not supposed to look happy about talking about something like that." Minamino said with a sweat drop at the back of his head.

"It's not like I'm exactly proud about it. I'm just happy I learned how to do it. I couldn't have tried to help Yukina if I wouldn't have known."

"What exactly happened that night? Yukina-san was captured in the end and so were you. How were you able to live through it? I'm sure they were armed. Why did they decide to keep you alive? How did you end up captured as well?"

"That's a lot of questions... I'll try to tell you everything but there's a lot to tell."

After that I went into a long explanation of the events that had taken place that night. When I came to the spot where I had managed to get Yukina out of their grasp, Minamino looked at me in disbelief.

"I had no idea you were so reckless."

"You're a fool. You could have killed Yukina with the stunt you pulled." the idiot said while he glared at me.

"I'll ignore the fool part this time considering the fact we're talking about Yukina. I know what I did was reckless, but it was either them or me. They were shooting at me, and I had to do something to help her before they reached their destination. I didn't want to risk there being reinforcements. I knew I wouldn't be able to handle it." I said.

"What happened next?" Minamino asked with curiosity.

I continued the story and told them what happened up until the time we were captured by the Toguro brothers.

"That's how we were captured. If I wouldn't have been so sick, we might have been able to continue running from them but that's not how things worked out. The younger Toguro decided to keep me alive, so they could use me to make Yukina cry. That was the only reason why they kept me alive. You already know the rest."

"You really are full of surprises (Name)-san. You certainly went through a lot to protect her."

"I only did what I thought was right. She needed my help, and I wanted to give it to her."

The rest of the time we ate it was completely silent.

"(Name)-san?" Minamino asked as I was about to stand up to take the dishes to the kitchen.

I looked over at him and noticed the frown on his face.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Where are your parents?"

Of course he'd have to ask something like that.

"My mother works at night so she never gets home until I've left for school."

A perplexed expression appeared on his face as he opened his mouth to speak again but I spoke before he could say anything.

"I know what you're going to ask. The last time you were here I lied when I told you that she'd be home. I didn't want you to stay the night to wait for her."

Not to mention she'd be with one of her clients. That's the last thing I would want anyone to see.

"Why does this place hinder my ability to sense or see the people inside of it?" the idiot suddenly asked.

"What?" I asked with a perplexed expression on my face as I looked at him.

"We found charms in various places around the apartment." Minamino explained.

"Charms? What are you talking about?" I asked.

Minamino pointed over at the wall behind the television. My eyes landed on one of the rectangular pieces of paper on the wall. Each of them had red symbols painted on them. They were in various places all over the apartment.

"That's what those are. I noticed them the last time I was here but I didn't give them much thought until Hiei told me he couldn't see anything inside your apartment." he said.

"I see. I was told by my father never to touch them. He never told me why. I always thought they were some sort of strange decoration. They're all over the apartment."

Minamino and the idiot looked at me with interest.

"Who's your father?" the idiot asked.

The memory of a man with blue eyes and short brown hair came to my mind. I felt sadness and guilt as I thought about him but I masked it as best as I could.

"He's simply my father, nothing more and nothing less." I said softly.

I quickly stood up as they looked at me with expressions I couldn't describe and gathered up the dishes to take them to the kitchen. While I took care of the dishes, I pushed the thoughts of my father to the deepest recesses of my mind. I placed the dishes back inside of the cupboard where I had found them and my eyes caught sight of the fridge. My thoughts went to our conversation about ice cream. I decided to walk over to it to grab a few ice cream sandwiches then headed back into the living room.

"You two, catch." I called out to them as I threw an ice cream sandwich at them.

They easily caught the treat, and Minamino spoke as he opened the package that was wrapped around his ice cream.

"Thanks."

"What is it?" the idiot asked as he looked at me with mistrust.

"It's an ice cream sandwich. Yukina liked them so I thought you might too if you tried it." I said as I opened mine up and started to eat it.

I walked over to my duffle bag and picked it up. He finally opened his and took a small bite out of it as I looked back over at him. His eyes widened in surprise before he looked down at it.

"It's sweet and yet cold."

My eyes widened a little in surprise before a chuckle escaped my lips.

"That's exactly what Yukina said to me when she had her first one. What do you think of it? Do you like it?" I asked.

"Hn." he said as he continued to eat it.

I knew that was the best response I was going to get out of him and decided to head for the door. I put the ice cream sandwich in my mouth and started to put on my brown boots.

"Aren't you going to tell your mother you're not going to be here for a couple of months?" Minamino asked.

It wasn't until my boots were on and I was holding my ice cream in my hand again that I responded.

"No. I don't need to."

There's no reason to write a note to her. Either way she'll know I'm involved in something again once she gets that call telling her I'm not at school. I don't even want to think of what she's going to do to me if I'm able to come back in one piece.

Minamino looked at me in confusion. He seemed like he wanted to say something in response but I spoke again before he could.

"Let's go. If we don't hurry, we're going to miss our ride." I said as I opened the door.

Once I turned off the living room light and stepped into the hallway, I turned around and waited for them to follow after me. The idiot was the first one to walk towards me and then Minamino followed behind him with a little hesitation. He was obviously deep in thought as he stared at me. When he stepped out into the hallway, I locked the door to the apartment and then we headed towards the bus stop for our journey to Genkai's place.

We arrived at the bus stop and waited a few minutes in silence until it finally arrived. Minamino was the first person to step onto the bus and showed the bus driver our tickets. I looked around the bus and realized we had the entire thing to ourselves.

"Where do you guys want to sit? It's completely empty." I said to them.

The idiot didn't say anything as he squeezed by us in the walkway to reach the back of the bus. He decided to sit down in the left corner and gazed out the window as if we weren't even here.

"Well, it looks like Hiei's decided to sit at the back." Minamino said.

"Apparently." I said with a nod.

Minamino decided to follow his example and sat down at the back of the bus in the right corner. I looked around to decide where I was going to sit. The idiot wouldn't want me to sit next to him and the feeling was mutual. Besides, I like my space. Being sandwiched between two people all night isn't very appealing to me.

I walked over to a seat in the middle of the bus on the right. A look of confusion appeared on Minamino's face but I ignored him as I sat down and placed my duffle bag in the spot next to me. A quiet sigh escaped my lips as I relaxed in the seat. I put my headphones over my ears and turned on my Walkman while I gazed out the window. It took a while, but eventually exhaustion finally over took me and I fell asleep with my head against the window.

My eyes shot open when I felt a hand on my right shoulder and I tensed up. Sunlight was illuminating the inside of the bus, and I quickly looked over at the person responsible for touching me. It was Minamino. He was standing next to me with a small smile on his lips. I relaxed as I turned off my Walkman and grabbed my headphones to place them around my neck so I could hear him as he spoke to me.

"We're here. Hiei's already outside."

I nodded my head and then stood up. A yawn escaped my lips as I stretched my arms over my head. I grabbed my duffle bag and silently followed him out of the bus while still half asleep.

"Thanks for the ride." I said to the bus driver.

When I placed my feet down on solid ground, I looked around to see where we were. The only thing I could see was a large forest. It wasn't really that much of a surprise since Koenma did say Genkai lived in the middle of nowhere.

"Shall we go?" Minamino asked.

I nodded my head and followed him and the idiot as they started to walk away from the bus stop. We eventually came to a long dirt pathway and walked down it until we stopped in front of a long set of stairs.

Minamino opened his mouth to say something but someone else talked before he could.

"Hey! Where were you guys?! I thought you were going to train me Kurama!" I heard Kazuma shout out in annoyance.

We looked over at him as he marched over to us from our left with an extremely annoyed expression on his face.

He was shirtless and had on the blue pants of his jumpsuit and black shoes.

"Kuwabara's here?" I asked with surprise in my voice.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. He was invited as well. I'm sure he also needs training.

His eyes immediately moved to me and he stopped walking as he blinked at me for a few moments.

"(Name)?! What are you doing here?!" Kazuma shouted as he pointed at me.

"They didn't tell you?" I asked.

"Tell me what?"

"Toguro decided to pay me a visit two weeks ago."

"What? Does that mean he invited you too?" Kazuma said with alarm in his voice.

"Yes. I'm a guest in the tournament along with the rest of you guys."

"But you don't have powers!"

"Apparently I do. I've had them since my time in Tarukane's cottage. I just don't know how to use them." I said with a sigh.

"No way! I won't accept it! That bastard should pick someone else!"

I knew he wasn't going to take the news well. I can only imagine how Yusuke's going to react.

"Once she's chosen there's no going back. If she doesn't attend, she'll be assassinated." the idiot said without mixing words.

"What?" Kazuma asked with wide eyes.

"That's why she's here. She needs training from Genkai, me, and Hiei. She won't stand a chance if we don't help her." Minamino said with a serious expression on his face.

"I never agreed to train a weakling like her." the idiot said.

"I don't need a weakling like you to train me. Even I managed to kick you." I said annoyed.

The idiot looked at me with a glare on his face and just as he went to pull out his sword Minamino stopped him.

"Hiei calm down."

Minamino then looked over at me and sighed.

"(Name)-san, try not to provoke him so much."

"I can't help it. His attitude annoys me."

Kazuma looked at me in confusion and I sighed. I knew exactly why he was looking at me like that. When I knew him, I wouldn't have acted like this and I sure as hell wouldn't have kicked anyone.

I turned towards the stairs and spoke.

"Is she just up these stairs?" I asked as I changed the subject.

"Yes, she is."

"Then I'm going to head up. I'm sure Kuwabara wants to train."

It took me a while to reach the top of the stairs. My eyes widened in surprise when I saw a massive Japanese styled building in front of me that was surrounded by a large wall. I walked through the open gate and over to the front door. I knocked on it loudly over and over again. I had no idea if Genkai would be able to hear me or not considering how large this place was.

"You're being obnoxious, if you're going to act like that then get out of here." I heard an old woman say annoyed as she opened the door.

She was a fairly short woman, shorter than the idiot or me surprisingly, with brown eyes. Her wavy pink hair reached a little past her shoulders and was parted in the middle. The outfit she had on was a red sleeveless Japanese robe that had purple edging and reached down to her shins. Underneath it she had a white loose fitting long sleeved shirt and loose fitting green pants. To keep the robe closed she had a green sash tied around her waist. On top of her head she had a round purple hat. The hat had a gold diamond on the front of it with black on the edges and a black symbol on it. She also had on a pair of purple shoes.

"I'm here to see Genkai." I said.

I knew if I didn't get straight to the point she would close the door in my face.

"I'm busy with someone else, go away." she said.

I looked at her in surprise.

This woman is Genkai?

As she tried closing the door, I used my foot to jam it between the door and the doorway.

"I can't. I've been told by Koenma that I need you to train me if I want a chance of surviving."

"Koenma? He should know I'm not taking any more students. If you want to train then do it elsewhere."

"I don't have anywhere else to train."

"That's not my problem, now move your foot before I kick your ass."

"Either I train with you, or I die in something called the Dark Tournament." I said stubbornly.

Her eyes widened in surprise while she stared at me.

"I'm sure Urameshi's told you about it. That's why he's here and that's why I'm here."

"(Name)?! What are you doing here?!" Yusuke shouted at me.

Genkai and I looked over at him as he pointed at me with a freaked out expression on his face.

Here we go again...

"You know this girl Yusuke?" Genkai asked.

"Y-Yeah." he said still taken off guard by the strange turn of events.

I wish I wasn't here right now either...

"Toguro decided to invite me to the tournament." I said to him.

He was going to find out anyway, I might as well just come out and tell it as it is.

"What? What do you mean Toguro invited you to the tournament?!" Yusuke suddenly shouted at me with an alarmed look on his face.

"That's why I'm here. I need training, and this is the place that Koenma said I needed to go to get it."

"Koenma? You know Koenma?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yeah." I said with a nod.

"No way! There's no way someone like you can fight in the tournament! That bastard's taken this too far!" he shouted annoyed.

"I don't have a choice. I'll be killed if I don't attend."

"But you'll be killed if you do!"

"Not if I have training. That's my only hope." I said trying to calm him down.

I knew he wouldn't like it. He's even angrier than Kazuma.

"I'm not training another pupil. Go home." Genkai said before she tried to slam the door on my foot.

"Ow! Damn it you old hag, that hurts!" I shouted at her annoyed.

"Then move your foot bonehead!" she shouted at me.

"No!" I shouted back as I pushed against the door with all of my body.

"Damn it you old hag!" I heard Yusuke shout annoyed before he helped me force the door open.

"Yusuke, what are you doing?" Genkai asked him annoyed as he pulled me inside of the large building.

"She needs training! If you don't do it, she'll die while fighting in the tournament!" he shouted at her annoyed again.

"You're the only pupil that I am going to train. If she has to train, she must do it by different means. She'll only hold you back."

"What?!" Yusuke and I shouted annoyed.

This old hag is just like the idiot!

I stared at her with an extremely annoyed expression on my face. It didn't take a genius to realize there's no way she'll willingly train me. She's too stubborn. I'll have to figure out how to get my training from her without her knowing about it. She's my only hope.

I let out an annoyed scoff and turned around before I marched out of the house and slammed the door shut.

"Wait!" Yusuke shouted as he opened the door back up.

He prevented me from walking any further as he stepped out in front of me. I stared at him for a few moments while he looked at me with a concerned expression on his face.

"I'll be fine Urameshi. When there's a will, there's a way. I'm not the type of person to give up. That old hag will be training me whether she wants to or not. She just doesn't know it. Worse case scenario I'll only be trained by Minamino. But I'll come up with something to make sure that doesn't happen." I said with a confident smirk.

He gazed at me in confusion before I walked past him and headed back down the stairs. Kazuma, Minamino, and the idiot weren't at the bottom but I heard Kazuma's yells of pain from the right and headed towards them. When I caught sight of him and Minamino, I walked through the trees and into the clearing they were in. Minamino had some sort of spiky vine whip in his hands and was attacking him with it. They looked over in my direction and stopped what they were doing as they looked at me in surprise.

"(Name), what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be training with Genkai?" Kazuma asked with a worried expression on his face.

"The old hag decided she wasn't willing to take another pupil. I would just hold Urameshi back according to her. I'm going to have to find other means to get my training from her." I said with annoyance in my voice as I dropped my duffle bag onto the ground.

"So she can also see how weak you are." the idiot said.

I looked up at him and noticed he had a smirk on his lips while sitting on a high branch of a nearby tree.

"What?! Say that to my face you spiky haired baboon!" I shouted up at him annoyed.

That response made him look at me annoyed before Minamino spoke sternly.

"We don't have time to argue amongst each other."

I looked over at him and nodded my head.

"It might help if someone could tell me what he's done for training. I should try to replicate it." I said in thought.

Kazuma immediately opened his mouth.

"When he first started, he trained for a month. She had him concentrate his Spirit Energy into the tip of his finger over a sharp needle while hanging upside down for twelve hours. He had to catch her Spirit Energy as she blasted him with it until he could catch it without flinching. She also had him mediate over a flame with his legs crossed. Um... Oh yeah, he said he also had to sleep on a bed of needles."

"What the hell?! You're not serious!" I shouted while looking at him like he was crazy.

What kind of training has that old hag made him go through?!

"That's what he said when he came back the first time."

"Are you afraid of her training?" the idiot asked mockingly.

I looked up at him annoyed by his needling.

"While you try to figure out what you're going to do, do you want to train with Kuwabara and me in order to improve your skills?" Minamino offered.

"I don't have a choice at the moment." I said with a nod.

"Alright. I will warn you, I won't go easy on you. Be prepared." he said.

He jumped up into the air and slashed at me without warning. My eyes widened in surprise and I quickly jumped to the side to avoid his whip.

That was the start of my one and a half months of training.


	12. Chapter 12: The Dark Tournament

**A/N:**

Here's the next chapter everyone! I hope you like it!

Tell me what you think by reviewing/commenting or adding this story to your favorites or alert lists! Your feedback is appreciated!

Thank you for all the support I've received so far!

* * *

 **Chapter 12: The Dark Tournament**

The first day of my training wasn't very successful. I wasn't able to learn how to use my powers because the old hag decided not to train me. Minamino's training didn't turn out well either. All I managed to do was run around all day while attempting to avoid his attacks. That was easier said than done. As he promised, he didn't hold back. I was hit more than just a few times since I didn't have the speed or endurance it took to avoid his whip for long periods of time.

Kazuma wasn't happy about the fact he had beaten me up so much but I convinced him to drop the subject. The end result of my training wouldn't be as effective if he held back on me. I needed him to attack me without holding back.

On the second day, I woke up early. The sky was beginning to light up as day slowly approached. Minamino and Kazuma were still asleep on the ground next to me. As for the idiot, he was somehow sleeping on a tree branch above us.

A part of me wished he would fall off so I could laugh at him.

I sat up and had to fight back a grunt of pain as I moved the muscles in my body. Kazuma told me the night before that Yusuke woke up early in the morning to start his training every day. Before that time, I had to come up with some sort of idea to get the training I needed from the old hag. She wouldn't willingly train me, and I didn't have the time to argue with her.

As a plan formed inside of my head, I quietly prepared myself for the day. The idea that came to me wasn't exactly the conventional way of doing things, but it was the only thing I could come up with. It wasn't like I had many choices.

Kazuma, Minamino, and the idiot woke up when I was about to head up to the old hag's place.

"You're already awake?" Kazuma asked.

"I'm going to head up to the old hag's place. I don't know when I'll be back so start training without me." I informed them as I dug through my duffle bag to grab a couple of hairpins.

"Do you want something to eat before you go?"

"No. I don't have time." I said as I closed the bag and stood up.

I turned my back to them and with a final wave I walked out of the clearing to get back to the long set of stairs. A sigh escaped my lips when I made it to the top and quietly walked through the open gate. My eyes scanned the area to make sure no one was around as I walked towards the front door. The moment I made it to the door, I placed my ear against it to listen inside.

It was completely silent.

When I was satisfied no one was on the other side of the door, I took out the two hairpins and then started to work my magic. It took me a few minutes to get the lock picked but when I did a smirk appeared on my lips.

Looks like I still have it. This old hag really didn't know who she was dealing with. She's going to train me even if she doesn't know it.

As quickly and as quietly as I could, I opened the door and slipped inside. I shut it behind me before I began to sneak around the massive house.

"Wake up, bonehead!" I heard the old hag shout annoyed.

I immediately stopped walking and looked a little farther down the hallway where the noise had come from. The sliding door to the next room was open, and I assumed they were inside it. Yusuke's annoyed muttering seemed too close for them not to be.

"Ow! What was that for you old bitch?!" Yusuke shouted angrily.

"Get your ass out of bed. It's time for your training." she said sternly.

It looks like I made it just in time.

I heard footsteps approaching the hallway and tensed up as I quickly looked around for a place to hide. Fortunately, I was next to a closed door and swiftly opened it. I slipped inside of the room that had been hidden behind it and quietly closed it again. Afterwards, I placed my ear against the door and listened to their footsteps as they walked through the hallway until they disappeared. With a little bit of hesitation, I opened the door then quietly walked down the hallway in the direction they headed in. I stopped the moment I heard muffled voices behind one of the closed doors.

So I could hear and see what was going on, I quietly opened the door a little and looked through the crack. Yusuke and the old hag were inside of a large empty room preparing for another day of training. Instead of making a nuisance of myself, I waited patiently in silence until they finally started Yusuke's training. It was finally time for my plan to go into action.

All day long I observed what they were doing and listened to her instructions while hiding in the shadows. I made mental notes of every action so I could repeat everything on my own later. They occasionally moved to different locations inside of the house as I followed them around. There was also a point in time where they went outside to climb the side of a mountain while Yusuke had a ball and chain around his ankles.

By the end of the day, I had a good understanding of the training I needed to do while I was here. It didn't look easy, but it was something I could replicate if I was stubborn enough to do it. However, there was still one important thing I didn't understand, how in the hell do I use my powers in the first place? Yusuke was able to concentrate his Spirit Energy at the tip of his index finger, but I didn't even know how to activate mine. What was I missing?

I decided to take the bull by the horns and ask Yusuke about it when I had the chance. I've been at this long enough to know I had no idea what I was doing. I wasn't so foolish to think I could figure it out even with the amount of pride I had. If I could have, I already would have. Yusuke was the only one I felt like I could ask. There was a certain amount of trust I had in him that I didn't have in the others, except for Kazuma. I had a feeling though that Yusuke would be able to explain it better than Kazuma could.

I hid inside of the room next to Yusuke's and patiently waited for him to retire for the night. It took a while but eventually I heard him yawn in the hallway as he walked through it indicating he was finally ready to go to sleep. A part of me didn't want to risk being spotted so I stayed where I was. Eventually, all of the lights in the house were turned off leaving me in complete darkness. The old hag had finally decided to go to sleep.

In order to ensure I wasn't spotted, I remained inside of the room for a little while. After what felt like thirty minutes, I quietly opened the door and snuck back out into the dark hallway. I slowly tiptoed down it, so I wouldn't make any noise and made my way over to Yusuke's door. Luckily it wasn't locked, and I quietly let myself in. A sweat drop appeared at the back of my head the moment my eyes landed on his sleeping form.

Kazuma wasn't just messing with me. Yusuke honestly did sleep on a bed of needles.

I snuck over to him and spoke.

"Psst! Yusuke!" I whispered to wake him up.

He didn't respond.

"Wake up." I whispered again as I shook his shoulders.

When that didn't work, I decided I had to take desperate measures. I raised my right hand and slapped his cheek with as much force as possible.

"O-!" Yusuke tried to shout before I quickly covered his mouth with both of my hands.

"Shut up before you wake up the old hag." I said tensely.

He looked at me in surprise as I removed my hands.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I need your help."

"What is it?"

"How do you use your Spirit Energy? I can't figure out how to use mine consciously. It only activates if I feel like I'm in danger."

"You can use Spirit Energy?" he asked in surprise.

"Yes." I said with a nod.

"When did it start?"

"While I was at Tarukane's. That's why Toguro took such an interest in me."

A frown appeared on his lips and he nodded his head in understanding.

"So how do you use it?" I asked again.

"I'll explain it as best as I can. Koenma told me how to do it so I'll try to explain it like he did."

I nodded my head, and he opened his mouth again.

"Try concentrating your feelings, like you were gathering all the power in your body, into your right index fingertip. Picture it in your mind and then pull the trigger in your mind when you're ready to shoot. That's how you use the Spirit Gun."

"I see." I said with a nod.

"Apparently we have Spirit Energy within our bodies called an "aura." You can concentrate it and shoot it out of your fingertip. But there is a limit to how many times you can use it in a day. The first time I used it, I was only able to shoot it once."

I nodded my head then stood up straight and spoke.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do with that. You go back to sleep. We both have a long day of training ahead of us tomorrow."

"Are you going to be alright? I can try to convince that old hag to-"

"You and I both know she's too stubborn. It will only be a waste of valuable time. You don't have to worry about me. I'll be ready by the time the tournament starts."

He didn't look very convinced, but I didn't give him a chance to say anything else as I turned around and spoke.

"I have to go. Thanks for the help. See you in a month and a half. Goodnight." I said with a wave.

I walked out of his room and shut the door. A quiet sigh came from my lips as I headed for the front door.

Today had been extremely productive but I was still worried about what the outcome was going to be in the end. Until I'm able to use my powers consciously, I won't be able to feel at ease. A lot of the training relied on knowing, at the very least, how to concentrate my energy. I wouldn't even be able to do it if I couldn't.

When I made it to the bottom of the long set of stairs, I lifted my right hand and looked at my index finger. I decided to try what Yusuke said and focused on gathering all of my power into my right index fingertip. Not before too long I felt my energy move through my body like all the other times I had activated my powers. My fingertip became warm and a small ball of blue energy gathered there as I concentrated it into that spot. It felt just like the times I had energy around my fist or foot.

"A-Amazing." I said with amazement in my voice.

I extended my right arm out in front of me and made a gun shape with my hand.

"Picture it in your mind and then pull the trigger in your mind when you're ready to shoot." I whispered the words he told me while imagining it.

A blue burst of energy came from the tip of my finger and flew forward until I couldn't see it anymore.

"I-I did it." I said with shock as I lowered my arm.

After a few moments, a grin broke out onto my face and then I headed for the clearing where I knew the others would be. Kazuma, Minamino, and the idiot were sitting around a campfire that they were using to cook fish. They looked over in my direction, and I smirked at them triumphantly as they stared at me in confusion.

"What happened? Did she actually agree to train you this time?" Kazuma asked me in confusion as he blinked at me.

"You fool. Do you think she'd be here if she did?" the idiot asked bluntly.

"What?!" Kazuma shouted at him annoyed by his name calling.

"No, she didn't. I broke into her house and watched Urameshi's training. He also helped me out a little after the old hag fell asleep and now I know exactly what to do." I said proudly as I put my hand on my chest and stood in front of them.

Minamino, Kazuma, and the idiot stared at me for a few moments without saying anything.

"You broke into her house?!" Kazuma suddenly shouted at me in disbelief as he stood up and pointed at me accusingly.

"What? I didn't do any structural damage. I used a couple of hairpins. It's like I wasn't even there." I said with a shrug.

"What?!"

"I don't know if I should be more shocked or impressed. You truly are resourceful." Minamino said with a little disbelief in his voice.

The idiot was quiet, but he was observing me closely.

"Resourceful?! This isn't something you should be praising her about!" Kazuma shouted at him.

After that he looked over at me and shouted at me again.

"Why would you know how break into someone's house?!"

"I've done worse." I said with a shrug.

"Is that supposed to comfort me?!"

"Don't get your panties in a bunch." I said with a sigh as I walked over to the campfire and sat down on the ground with my legs crossed.

"Panties?! I don't wear panties!" he shouted at me with a blush on his cheeks.

"Fine, boxers or briefs?" I asked with a raised eyebrow as I looked over at him.

"T-That's none of your business!" he shouted at me in embarrassment.

I looked at him in amusement and then stared into the fire in front of us. He eventually sat down and then spoke again.

"So, where did you learn how to break into people's houses? I'm sure Sora-"

"Don't worry about it. It's not that interesting of a story." I said as I quickly cut him off.

I didn't want to be reminded of my brother. I already knew he wouldn't be proud of what I had become. He wouldn't like what I was capable of. I wasn't the same little girl as before... In that respect, I understood the idiot a little too well.

"I'm going to bed. I have a big day ahead of me tomorrow." I said as I stood up with a whirlwind of emotions flowing through me.

I walked over to the side of the clearing and lied down on the ground with my back towards them. There was one thing I forgot to pack and that was a sleeping bag. No one told me I was going to be sleeping in the forest.

"Goodnight." Kazuma said.

"Yeah. Goodnight." I replied as I closed my eyes.

And eventually I fell asleep...

Since I didn't work out the day before, the next day I woke up tired and sorer than I was previously.

"Ah, (Name)-san you're awake." I heard Minamino say as I sat up.

I nodded my head and looked over in his direction. My stomach grumbled loudly and my mouth watered as my eyes caught sight of the food hanging over the fire. It was only fish but I didn't have the chance to eat yesterday so I was extremely hungry.

The idiot was already awake while Kazuma was asleep on the ground next to me. I stood up and walked over to the fire then sat down on the ground with my legs crossed.

"You're not planning on going to Genkai's right?" Minamino asked.

"No. Like I said last night, I've learned everything I needed to in order to train." I said.

"You sound pretty confident." the idiot said with a smirk.

It was obvious he wasn't convinced.

"It's all up here, every instruction and action." I said as I tapped my right temple.

"Don't underestimate her Hiei. Her mind is very capable. It would take someone a great amount of intelligence, fast reflexes, and skill to do all the things she's done so far. I'm sure you've realized it as well." Minamino said.

The idiot looked over at him and I noticed a hint of surprise on his face for only a moment before he masked it and stared at me.

"Do you want to train with me and Kuwabara-kun after breakfast?" Minamino asked.

"Yeah, I need all the training I can get at this point." I said with a nod.

As soon as breakfast was over, I trained with Minamino and Kazuma. It was still extremely difficult to avoid his attacks. My sore muscles were screaming at me all morning long and I was no where near fast enough. However, I fought to continue training with them until it was time for lunch.

The idiot caught all of us fish and Minamino and Kazuma were cooking it while I sat on the ground with my back against a nearby tree to rest. It took me a little while to get enough energy to stand up and I walked over to my duffle bag. I took out one of my trusty pocket knives and dug a small hole in the ground with my hands to prepare for the next part of my training. I placed the handle of the knife inside of the hole and made sure to point the blade straight up as I filled it back up with dirt. I made sure to compact the dirt around it as much as I could in order to ensure it was firmly in place before Minamino called out to me.

"(Name)-san, lunch is ready."

"Okay." I said.

After lunch, I concentrated my energy at the tip of my finger while hanging upside down over the blade of the knife until it was time for dinner. It was easier said than done. There were quite a few instances where I lost concentration and the tip of my knife sliced into my finger. Thankfully no one tried to distract me while I was doing it, although I could hear Kazuma whispering various concerns about me over working myself. Even the idiot seemed to leave me alone but I could feel his eyes on me off and on all day.

"Hey, do you guys have any idea how I'm going to mediate over a fire? I've been able to come up with an idea for everything else but that." I said during dinner.

"Hiei should be able to help you. He's a fire demon." Minamino said.

"What?" I asked with a perplexed look on my face.

"A fire demon is someone who can produce flames with their Demon Energy."

"I see... No thanks, I don't want his help." I said bluntly.

"You don't have any other ideas do you?" Minamino asked.

"...No." I said hesitantly.

"Hiei, are you willing to let her mediate over your flames?" Minamino asked.

He amazingly nodded his head in agreement.

It wasn't until I tried to mediate over his flames that I understood why he was willing to do it. There was more than one occasion I was burnt by them and he seemed to be enjoying the fact. He really was a bastard.

Before bed, I looked around the area and found some sharp rocks I could use to sleep on. Kazuma looked at me with an incredulous look on his face after I had picked a few of them up and carried them over to where I slept.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I don't have needles. Sharp rocks are the best thing I can come up with." I replied as I placed another one down onto the ground.

"You really are going full out aren't you?"

"Of course, it won't do me any good to do this half-assed."

He didn't say anything for a few moments until he shouted at Minamino.

"Hey, Kurama let's train a little longer!" he said with new vigor.

"Are you sure you want to Kuwabara-kun?" Minamino asked.

"Yes!"

"Do you want to join us, (Name)-san?"

"Sure." I said with a nod.

We trained for a little while longer until Minamino said it was time for us to go to bed. The moment I lied down onto the rocks, I flinched in pain. I knew I was in for an extremely long night. The rocks were a good replacement for needles. They were just as painful.

The next day I added mountain climbing to my training regime along with everything else I was already doing. It was extremely difficult. I couldn't even finish climbing to the top of the mountain without weight let alone with it. If it wouldn't have been for my powers protecting me, I would have slammed into the ground below and been seriously injured.

Everyone was sitting around the fire when I came back.

"What happened to you?" Kazuma asked.

My right pant leg had been ripped, my hands were scabbed, and my shirt was also torn a little.

"Mountain climbing... I kept losing my grip." I muttered with exhaustion in my voice as I sat down on the ground next to him.

Minamino sat down next to me and handed me a cooked fish.

"Here. It looks like you need it." he said.

"Thanks." I said with a small grateful smile.

It was impossible for me to keep my distance from Kazuma and Kurama as my month and a half of training continued. My bonds with them strengthened exponentially while we were technically fighting for our lives and deep down I found myself calling them friends. A little more than halfway into it, my reflexes had become fast enough to avoid Minamino's attacks and I was also able to attempt to attack him. Of course, he had ways of stopping me from being able to get a hit in, but I was just happy by my progress.

"(Name)?" Kurama asked me as I was about to head to the mountain side.

I currently had my duffle bag strapped to my upper body that was full of rocks. It was the only way I could think of to add weight since I didn't have anything like a ball and chain.

"Yeah?" I asked him in confusion.

"I think you're ready for Hiei to train you."

"What?" Kazuma asked him in surprise.

The idiot wasn't around at the moment to put his two cents in.

An incredulous look appeared on my face and I spoke.

"The idiot? I already said, before we even started this, I didn't need his help."

"The only way you're going to improve more is if you let him help you." Minamino said as he tried to convince me.

"Let him help me? Last time I checked his feelings of training me were mutual."

"Please, (Name), humor me. You'll understand when you start training with him."

"...Why? Give me one good reason why."

"I've already trained you as much as I can. Hiei's the only one who can improve your strength and speed now. Didn't you say you wanted to get as strong as possible before the end of our training?"

I stared at him for a few moments, and he spoke again.

"Please. With Toguro targeting you, you'll need as much help as you can get. We've all witnessed his power. Hiei might not be as strong as he is, but he can help you improve. Your pride isn't worth your life. Let him help you."

A sigh escaped my lips, and I spoke.

"I'll think about it."

"Thank you (Name). That's all I ask."

As much as I hated to admit it, Kurama was right. I did need as much help as I could get especially with Toguro targeting me. He knew the idiots skills better than I did. I didn't know much about him. I knew he was fast, had a bad habit of irritating me, and liked to burn me with his flames whenever he had the chance. There was also a part of me that knew he wasn't as bad as he wanted others to think. However, he always loved to showcase how irritating he can be.

Once I was finished climbing the mountain, I swallowed my pride and made my decision. I walked into the clearing with only one thing on my mind. When I dropped my duffle bag onto the ground, I looked directly at the idiot with a determined expression on my face. He was currently standing with his back against a nearby tree and his arms crossed over his chest.

"You're going to train me." I ordered as I pointed at him.

My declaration made him pause as he looked at me in surprise before he quickly masked it with a neutral expression. Kurama and Kazuma stopped putting wood on the fire and looked over at the two of us.

The area was quiet except for the crackling of the campfire as I waited for him to respond but he didn't.

"Well?" I asked impatiently.

After a few long moments, a smirk appeared on the idiot's lips and I immediately felt like he was looking down on me.

"Train you? You're not worth my time." he said amused.

An extremely annoyed expression appeared on my face before I decided that two could play the insult game. I had decided to take Kurama's advice even though it meant going against my own pride to do it. I sure as hell wasn't going to be talked down to like this. He was going to train me even if he didn't want to just like the old hag did.

A sickly sweet smile appeared on my lips and I spoke.

"Oh really."

I didn't give him a chance to respond as I quickly ran towards him and punched at his head. His eyes widened in surprise and he moved his head to the side just in time. My fist made contact with the tree instead of his face. He stared at me with wide eyes seemingly frozen in place. I had obviously taken him off guard.

"I didn't say you had a choice you spiky haired baboon." I said annoyed as I insulted him.

My insult seemed to have struck a nerve since he glared at me with his right eyebrow twitching a little.

"(N-Name)?" Kazuma asked nervously.

There was another thing I knew about him. He was also extremely prideful. If I wanted to get him to do what I wanted, I would have to hurt his pride like he continually hurts mine. The moment I do, he'll retaliate and that will be the beginning of my training.

I knew my previous insult wasn't quite good enough though and decided to make the final blow.

"Oh, I know what it is. Now that my speed has increased, I'm actually a match for you. You're just running away with your tail between your legs." I said with a smirk.

Nothing hurts a persons pride more than being called weak. This was to get back at him for his insults just as much as it was for him to train me. I wasn't going to let my pride be hurt without hurting his as well. He can't call me weak all the time without me also calling him weak. I won't stand for it.

As I predicted, it was the right insult. He suddenly pulled his sword out, and I was forced to jump back to avoid it as he swung at me. After my feet touched back down onto the ground, I looked at my shirt and saw he had managed to cut into it. I had just barely managed to avoid his attack.

I looked back up at him as he glared at me and a smirk appeared on my lips when he launched at me.

"That's more like it! Let's see if you're really as strong as you say you are!" I shouted as I just barely managed to avoid another attack.

After I hurt his pride, he decided he was going to attack me every chance he had. There were only a handful of times during my day he didn't, while we were eating and when I was climbing the side of the mountain. Kurama said he couldn't attack me during our meals after a few of his attempts turned out disastrous and made a mess of the food. I can only think of one reason why he doesn't attack me while I'm climbing the side of the mountain. He didn't want to go through the effort it would take to climb it just to attack me. During those times he was glaring at me like he wanted to kill me, though.

Kurama, Yukina, and the tournament were the only things stopping him from killing me at this point. That much was obvious. However, I did manage to get what I wanted in the end. He was training me even if it meant I had turned him into an enemy. It wasn't like it was anything new. Making enemies was something I was exceptionally good at. I wasn't the type of person who necessarily cared about being liked by others.

Two weeks later my feelings towards Hiei had changed a little. I still thought he was an idiot but less so and my respect towards him grew as I spent more time fighting him. I initially hated to admit it but Kurama's advice had been spot on. He was undeniably a skilled fighter. I felt like he really was helping me become stronger.

He and I were currently in another fight, and I was finally at the point I could avoid his attacks with less difficulty. It wasn't like it was easy to avoid them yet but I could see his movements better than before and move accordingly. I hadn't been able to try to attack him up until this point because I was too busy focusing on just avoiding his sword. However, I felt like I might have a chance to retaliate now.

His eyes widened in surprise when I kicked at him with energy surrounding my left foot and he was forced to jump back to avoid it. A smirk appeared on my lips as I quickly launched at him and pulled my right fist back with energy around it.

Now was my only chance! I can attack him while he's surprised!

My fist connected with his stomach and his feet dug into the ground as he was pushed back until he stopped at the other side of the clearing. I panted as I stared at him while he looked down at the ground with wide eyes as he involuntarily held his stomach with his left hand. My attack had managed to shock him and it would seem it was quite painful.

It had taken everything I had to be able to do just this. If I would have hesitated at any moment, he would have been able to avoid it. He would have also been able to attack me with ease again and I would have been back to square one. I wouldn't have been able to catch him off guard again either. This was the first time I had attempted to attack him. It was something he hadn't been expecting.

When he recovered, he looked up at me and something flashed in his eyes... Recognition.

The way he treated me changed after that. Our respect for each other had become mutual. As a result, we didn't throw as many insults at each other and we also stopped calling each other weak. We obviously still trained together, but it was mainly to improve our skills. Whatever hostility we held towards one another seemed to become nonexistent.

Kurama and Kazuma noticed the change, but they didn't say anything about it. I think they were just relieved he wasn't trying to kill me every second.

When the month and a half was over, I felt like I had fairly good control over my powers. My agility, endurance, and resistance to pain had also increased exponentially. Because of Hiei's constant barrage of attacks, at the end of the final week, I found myself able to fight against him on an even playing field. He never worded what he thought on the subject, but it didn't matter. His actions and attitude towards me told me everything I needed to know.

The morning of the Dark Tournament, we ate breakfast together in silence and then I finished packing all of my clothes. I tried getting as much dirt and small rocks out of my duffle bag as possible. It wasn't like I wanted to make my clothes dirtier than they already were.

I was wearing a plain dark blue sleeveless t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. My slightly worn brown boots were on my feet. I had my headphones around my neck while my walkman was strapped to my black belt. My hair was up in a high ponytail to keep it out of the way.

"Are you ready to go (Name)?" Kazuma asked.

He was wearing his regular blue jumpsuit and black shoes. His gray duffle back was strapped to his left arm.

I yawned before I could actually respond to him. My training was finally taking its toll on me. I was completely exhausted.

"Yeah, I'm ready." I said as I picked up my duffle bag and hung the strap over my right shoulder.

"Let's go. It's better to be early than late." Kurama said.

He was wearing a white long sleeve top. It had gold edging along the front opening of the shirt and the top of the high collar. The cuffs on the sleeves and the collar were both dark blue. He also had on a pair of white slacks. There was a purple sash tied around his waist. On his feet he had black shoes.

We walked down the long dirt pathway and over to the same bus stop as before. It didn't worry anyone too much that Yusuke wasn't there. I was certain there were a few more buses that would stop here throughout the day. Besides, I trusted him enough to know he wouldn't leave us hanging. He would be where he was needed later tonight.

"Does anyone have tickets?" I asked as I sat down on the bench.

"Yes. I had Hiei run to the nearest town with some money to purchase them." Kurama said.

"I see. So that's why he wasn't attacking me part of last night. I wondered where he went." I said with a look of realization on my face as I looked over at Hiei.

Hiei was wearing a dark blue open sided Surcoat with gold edging. It reached down to the middle of his shins and was red on the inside. Underneath, he wore a light blue long sleeve shirt and black loose fitting pants. There was a gold sash tied around his waist. Around his neck, he had a light blue scarf. He had black boots on his feet and his usual white headband over his forehead.

Minamino looked at me with an amused expression on his face and nodded his head.

Thirty minutes later the bus arrived to take us over to a place near our meeting spot for the tournament. Kurama was the first one to walk up the stairs followed by Kazuma, me, and lastly Hiei. He showed the man our tickets, and I looked around only to find we had the bus to ourselves once again.

"Where do you guys want to sit? The whole bus is empty again." I asked as I looked at them.

Hiei pushed his way through us and Kazuma looked at him annoyed. He looked like he wanted to hit him.

"Why you...!" Kazuma shouted.

He just ignored him and walked over to the back seat of the bus and sat in the left corner.

"The back again?" I asked.

"It would seem so." Kurama said as he nodded his head.

Kurama walked to the back seat of the bus and sat in the right corner.

I still didn't like the idea of being sandwiched between them so I never entertained the thought of sitting on the back seat. Instead, I walked over to the back of the bus and sat in the seat directly in front of Hiei. I noticed Kurama was gazing at me in surprise and I sighed as I spoke.

"Why are you looking at me like that Minamino?" I asked as Kazuma sat in the seat in front of him.

I still didn't feel comfortable enough to call anyone by their first names. In Kurama's case I suppose it would be his other name. In any case, in my mind, I referred to them as such but I was still trying to keep a little distance between them and me. I was making it a point to.

"Its nothing." he said as he shook his head and smiled at me.

On the way to our destination, the bus driver had to fuel up, and we were allowed to buy stuff at the convenience store. I was the only one who decided to take the chance and followed the driver off the bus. There were a few reasons why I wanted off. I wanted a little fresh air and to stretch my legs since we've been trapped on the bus all day. I really needed to go to the bathroom. I also wanted to purchase something to eat for later.

After I had gone to the bathroom, I looked around the convenience store until I found a sandwich and a bottle of (your favorite drink). Kazuma must have also decided he needed to go to the bathroom as well. He suddenly came running into the store and almost barreled into me to get over to the restrooms as fast as he could.

"Watch where you're going you idiot!" I shouted at him annoyed.

"Sorry, I've got to go number 2!"

"I don't need to know that!" I shouted a little embarrassed.

I purchased my items and then headed back over to the bus just as the driver finished fueling up.

"We'll leave as soon as your friend gets back." he informed me.

I nodded my head and stepped back into the bus. Kurama and Hiei were still in their respective spots as I made my way back over to my seat. I stuffed the items inside of my duffle bag as I let out a yawn for what seemed like the millionth time today.

It was becoming harder and harder to keep my eyes open...

When we finally arrived, we ended up in another forest and the sun was just about to go down. Another yawn escaped my lips as we walked off the bus.

"Thanks for the ride." I said to the bus driver.

I followed Kurama and Hiei through the forest as the sun finally set and it became night once again. We eventually came to a stop near the edge of a clearing that had a large flame at the center. My eyes widened in surprise as I looked at the others who were gathering for the tournament.

There were all different kinds of demons around us. They were gathering around the large flame while talking amongst each other. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before. I knew the Toguro brothers were demons but they looked human. Most these guys didn't.

"I've been anxiously waiting for this day!" I heard one of the demons say with an excited laugh.

"Not only do we get to openly run around in our true forms..." another demon said.

"If we win, then whatever we want, we will be free to take!" a different demon said as he finished what the other one was going to say.

"We're the ones who are going to win! If you value your lives, go home now while you still can!" another one said.

"You're going to take back every word of that!" a different one said as he pointed at the demon who spoke to him.

"You know something? It reeks of humans!" I heard another demon say as the entire group looked over at us.

It reeks of humans? What? Do we smell bad or something?

"Have they come just to be eaten up?" another asked with a chuckle.

I just looked at the demons with an extremely tired look on my face. All I wanted to do was go to sleep at this point. Eating my sandwich didn't sound like a bad idea either.

We waited a little while in silence as we observed the others and I was beginning to wonder when Yusuke was going to show up.

"That Urameshi bastard sure is late! What the hell is he doing?" Kazuma asked from my right.

"The final member hasn't been chosen either." Kurama said from the right side of Kazuma.

That's true enough. I wonder what we're going to do about it. Will they even let us compete without a sixth member? Something tells me they won't.

"Never mind worrying over others, how are you? Have you gotten the least bit better?" Hiei asked Kazuma without even bothering to look at him.

He was standing to my left.

Kazuma let out an annoyed scoff and spoke.

"You'll just have to look forward to seeing me! I could ask the same for (Name) too you know!" Kazuma said to him annoyed.

"She's fine. At this point, you're the weakest member of our team." Hiei said bluntly.

I looked at him in surprise as a light blush appeared on my cheeks due to the sudden compliment.

He really thinks I've improved that much?

"What?" Kazuma asked in surprise as his eyes widened.

"It seems you've improved a great deal during the last three weeks (Name). It's not everyday Hiei compliments someone like that." Kurama said with a small smile.

All I could give him was a small shy smile. The fact Hiei thought that way and was actually willing to say it made me feel strangely happy and proud of myself.

We waited a little longer until a short man who looked like a pirate appeared in front of us. He had a brown eye patch over his left eye, a wooden leg, a pipe, and even a thick black beard. On top of his head he had a tall brown round hat. He wore black slacks and a black suit jacket. On his feet were black shoes.

"All of you who 'ave gathered, it is just about time for us to set sail." he said.

"He even has the accent of a pirate down." I muttered in amazement.

"H-Hey, pops, wait a little bit longer! One of the guests is late!" Kazuma said to him.

"Don't you mean two Kuwabara?" I asked as the man chuckled.

"There is a rule that in such an event, 'e is considered to 'ave fled, and an assassin will be sent after 'im."

Damn it, where is Yusuke! I know he wouldn't just bail on us!

"Hey! Sorry, sorry!" we all heard a familiar voice say.

I turned to look behind me and saw Yusuke standing behind us with another person next to him.

Yusuke was wearing a white t-shirt and blue jeans. He had on a brown hoodless coat. It had a light brown collar and light brown cuffs. He had white sneakers on his feet. His short black hair was no longer slicked back and his bangs hung over his forehead like they did when we were kids.

The person to his right was short, shorter than Hiei and I surprisingly. They had a white cloth wrapped around their head that concealed their identity. All you could see was their brown eyes. The person had on a red sleeveless robe that reached down to their shins. It had green on the edges and a three inch thick purple edge from the neck of the robe down to the person's right hip. To keep the robe closed there was a green sash wrapped around their waist. Underneath, they wore a white long sleeve shirt and a pair of loose fitting kung-fu pants. They had purple shoes on their feet.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Yusuke said.

"Why, you! You're late, Urameshi!" Kazuma shouted.

"That's something that hasn't changed. You still don't have any concept of time. Idiot." I said with a little annoyance in my voice.

I mostly felt relieved, though, since he was finally here.

He looked at me and then spoke.

"You were so much cuter when you were younger. You never talked to people like that."

"W-What?" I asked taken off guard.

"Urameshi?" I heard one of the demons ask.

"He defeated Rando and Suzaku?" a different demon said.

"If we defeat that guy, our reputations will rise right away!" another one said.

Yusuke struggled to walk over to us and was forced to use a nearby tree for support as he drug his bag across the ground.

"I'm worn out all over my body, you know!" Yusuke said with a tired smile.

"Hey, you're staggering there, aren't you? Are you okay?" Kazuma asked as Hiei walked over to Yusuke.

"Yusuke." Hiei said.

Yusuke looked at him with a small frown and then Hiei suddenly launched at him with his sword drawn. I watched as Yusuke immediately responded and moved as fast as he did in order to dodge his attacks.

"W-What the...? Why is he attacking him? Did Urameshi piss him off somehow?" I asked taken off guard while I easily followed their movements with my eyes.

"Hiei considers him to be one of his rivals." Kurama said.

"I see..." I said while looking at the scene wearily.

"What's this?" I heard one of the demons ask.

"What the hell are they doing?" another demon asked.

"T-They're fast! It's all I can do to follow them with my eyes!" Kazuma said.

Yusuke then managed to catch the blade of Hiei's sword with his right hand.

"That was a pretty hazardous greeting, huh?" Yusuke asked him.

A small smile was on Hiei's lips as he spoke.

"It appears you've become a bit more capable." he said obviously impressed by their small exchange.

"A bit, he says? He's gotten outrageously stronger, don't you know!" Kazuma shouted.

"It's all right. If you were able to follow their movements just now, then you've grown quite a bit too." Kurama said while smiling at him.

"What about you (Name)? Did you manage to get some training in?" Yusuke asked with a little worry on his face.

"I did. You don't have to worry about me. That old hag ended up training me even though she doesn't know it along with Minamino and that guy." I said before I pointed at Hiei.

"How did she train you?" he asked with a perplexed expression on his face.

"The day I saw you, I broke into her house and watched your training session. Then I copied everything you had to go through to a T when I was done." I said with a proud smirk.

Yusuke looked at me in shock.

"You broke into her house?!" he shouted at me in disbelief.

"Not you too..." I said with a sigh.

"By the way, don't tell me that runt over there is our sixth member, is he?" Hiei asked Yusuke.

Kazuma ran up to the person and shouted.

"What?! This guy? You mean this isn't some ornamental raccoon?"

"Ornamental raccoon? Does that guy look like a raccoon to you?" I asked him with disbelief as I raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, hey, you're sure about this, now?" Kazuma asked while continuing to look the guy over.

"Relax! That's our strongest ally around." Yusuke said confidently.

"I'm still not convinced..."

"Kuwabara, you can't judge a book by its cover. If Urameshi says that he's strong, then, he probably is. We're just going to have to trust what he says." I said.

"Who cares? Just me and Yusuke alone will be enough." Hiei said confidently.

"So then, everyone, we set sail!" the pirate man shouted.

He lifted his left arm up into the air. His hand was a metal hook.

Our large group followed him as I yawned tiredly and took a step forward with the others. We were led over to a massive cargo ship. When we made it onto the deck, I walked over to the side of it and leaned my arms against the railing as the wind blew through my hair.

This was it. The Dark Tournament was about to start.


	13. Chapter 13: Crazy Boat Ride

**A/N:**

IT'S FINALLY HERE! Sorry for making all of you wait so long. I'll try not to make you wait so long for the next one. I've been extremely busy. Even though I didn't update for a while, I can assure all of you that I won't stop writing this story until it's over. I've read my own fair share of stories where I wished an author would finish and yet years later they haven't for various reasons so I know what it feels like. I hope you all enjoy this chapter! If you like it, favorite it and follow it. Also, if you want to, comment! I really like reading what all of you think of my story.

I do want to say thank you to everyone who has decided to stick with me and this story despite the long wait. Thank you for all of the support so far!

* * *

 **Chapter 13: Crazy Boat Ride**

I sighed as the boat finally set sail and continued to stare out at the ocean.

I would be lying if I didn't say I was a little nervous about fighting in the tournament. I pride myself on my fighting skills, but it was obvious my opponents wouldn't be normal. They're going to be a lot stronger than Tokigawa ever could be. The Toguro brothers, Hiei, and Kurama are proof of that.

It also didn't sit right with me that I was going to be trapped on an island with a bunch of demons that wanted to kill me. The very name of the island, Hanging Neck Island, seemed ominous. I would have to be on my guard at all times unless I wanted to be killed. It wasn't like I had a choice in the matter, though. I just had to roll with the punches and hope I didn't get too badly scathed. I could only hope that the severe training I went through during the last month and a half was enough to do something.

A yawn escaped my lips as the others walked over to me and I sat down on the wooden deck with my back against the railing. Yusuke followed my example and sat down next to me on the left. Kurama stood next to me on my right and leaned his back against the railing. Kazuma stood to his right and also leaned his back against the railing. The Masked Fighter, whoever he was, stood to his right. Hiei, much to my bewilderment, decided to stand on the railing straight behind me while he and the others observed the other contestants.

I looked up at Hiei with a tired expression on my face. It paranoid me a little that he was standing on the railing. A ship isn't exactly stable.

"I don't know how you're not paranoid of falling off the ship," I muttered.

He glanced down at me for a moment but didn't say anything in response as he looked forward again.

"I think that's the least of our worries," Kurama told me with a faint smile.

"How is that the least of our worries?" I asked him with an incredulous look on my face as I looked at him. "If he falls off the ship, then we'll be out a member on our team and we will automatically lose the tournament!"

"I doubt Hiei would allow himself to fall off."

"I'm not about to lose the tournament because _someone_ decided to throw all caution out the window to do something ludicrous for no reason at all."

I gave Hiei a pointed look as I gazed back up at him and continued to speak.

"Get down from the railing right now," I ordered.

Hiei acted like I didn't say anything and just stayed where he was.

I let out an annoyed scoff.

"Can't you do what you're told for once?"

My question as once again greeted by silence as he ignored me.

"Fine, see if I care! Don't say I didn't warn you, idiot! I'll make sure to laugh at you when you fall into the sea!" I snapped.

I'm too tired to deal with him right now.

"Geez, there's nothing but monsters here! Aren't there any cute chicks on board?" Kazuma asked.

"I'm trying to decide if I should be insulted by that remark," I muttered.

A sheepish smile came to Kazuma's lips in response as he looked over at me.

"Sorry."

"All things considered, this is a pretty dismal boat, huh?" Hiei asked.

"Ah," I said in fake amazement as I gazed back up at him. "So you haven't forgotten how to speak. I was worried for a moment there since you don't seem to have the mental capacity to listen either."

An annoyed expression appeared on his face as he stared down at me with a glare. The right corner of my mouth turned upwards as I smirked at him in response.

What else does he expect me to do when he's acting like an idiot? Of course I'm going to insult him.

He looked like he wanted to say something but Kurama spoke before our fight could escalate further.

"We're not going sightseeing here, after all," he pointed out as he responded to what Hiei said before.

My stomach suddenly grumbled and I decided to look away from Hiei in order to take out the sandwich from my duffle bag.

"That's true, but they could at least give us something to eat, couldn't they? I'm starving here," Kazuma said as he eyed my sandwich.

"Try to touch it, and you're going to get it," I said to him threateningly as I opened the packaging.

"Oh come on! Why can't you split it with me?!" he shouted.

"You should have bought something at the convenience store when I did if you thought you were going to be hungry! I'm also starving!" I shouted at him annoyed.

"He would have to have a brain first," Hiei said bluntly.

"I see," I said in realization.

"What?!" Kazuma shouted at us annoyed.

I smirked in response then bit into my sandwich.

"Haven't you ever heard the phrase sharing is caring?!" Kazuma shouted.

A look of defiance appeared on my face and the moment I swallowed what was already in my mouth I bit hard into the sandwich once again.

"Why you...! Urameshi's right, you were a lot cuter when you were younger!" he shouted at me annoyed before he pointed at me. "The second you see my strength you'll cower at my might! Then you won't have any other choice but to do as I say!"

An incredulous expression appeared on my face and I quickly chewed the food in my mouth and swallowed so I could respond.

"As if that would ever happen! I only do what I want to do! I do have some pride!" I said bluntly.

"That's an understatement," Kurama said under his breath.

"Minamino, am I suppose to take that as an insult?" I asked annoyed as my right eyebrow twitched.

"I'm only telling the truth. You have about as much pride as Hiei."

"Now I really should take that as an insult," I said bluntly.

He smiled at me in amusement.

The pirate man suddenly spoke from up above as he stood outside on the captains deck with a microphone in his hand.

"Everyone, if you would please be quiet... Before the boat reaches the island — and if you don't mind calling this a replacement for our banquet — I would like to offer a little something by way of entertainment."

Kazuma pushed himself away from the railing and shouted out happily as he looked up at him.

"Does this mean you're going to be serving dinner or something?!" he looked over at me and pointed at me. "Ha! That means you wasted your money (Name)!"

I opened my mouth to respond, but the pirate man spoke before I could.

"Beginning now, we're going to 'old the preliminary tournament!"

"What?" Kazuma asked in surprise as his words took him off guard.

I also looked up at the man in surprise.

"Preliminary tournament, he said?" Hiei asked.

"And here on the boat, at that," Kurama said.

The ship started to shake and Kazuma almost fell to the floor of the deck as he made a sound of surprise. I quickly gazed up at Hiei in alarm thinking only the worst. Luckily he had managed to use what little footing he had on the railing to stop himself from falling off the ship.

"Idiot! I told you not to stand on the railing!" I shouted up at him annoyed while also feeling a little relieved.

His eyes found mine and I noticed a small hint of surprise appear on his face as he stared at me.

"It's an earthquake!" Kazuma shouted in surprise before the ship finally stopped shaking.

"Idiot! Do they have earthquakes out at sea?" Hiei bluntly asked him as he took his eyes away from mine.

"Look!" Kurama shouted as he pointed towards the center of the ship.

I looked over in the direction he was pointing in along with the others and silently observed what was going on in confusion and surprise.

A large section of the deck floor slowly opened up and revealed a large area of darkness within the center of the ship. The demons on the ship immediately began to talk amongst themselves in surprise and amazement as a massive round concrete slab rose up from the darkness. It had two sets of stairs on opposite ends of the ship that led up to the top of it. It was some sort of platform.

"What is that?!" Kazuma asked in surprise as it rose up into the air.

"This is where you will fight," the pirate man announced once the platform stopped moving.

"Oh, that's the ring, is it?" I heard a demon say in amazement.

"A ring here on the boat, huh? That's pretty damn clever," I heard another demon say.

"As it so 'appens, fifteen of the teams who will be appearing in the Dark Tournament 'ave already been determined, and are standing by on the island. There is only one team on this boat who will be able to participate!" the pirate man informed us.

The crowd of demons shouted up at him angrily due to the news.

"You're joking!" I said in surprise.

"Damn, so we aren't guests, then?" Kazuma asked unhappily.

"This is the way they operate," Hiei said.

"Please chose who you think is the strongest contestant on your teams. They will fight atop 'ere in a Battle Royale and the one team remaining will be given the right to enter the tournament finals on Hanging Neck Island," the pirate man said with a smirk on his lips.

Kazuma loudly cracked his knuckles and spoke with a serious expression on his face.

"All right! Let's do this, why don't we? I'll show you just how strong I've become!" he announced.

It was after that a massive grey skinned demon walked up from behind him and chuckled.

"This will be an interesting warm-up! You seem to want to win this, after all," the demon said.

"So, how about you bring it on over here to warm-up?" another green skinned demon asked from behind him as his sharp nails gleamed in the moonlight.

"I'm as happy as I can be to see how many demons I can dispose of at one time!" another light grey skinned demon gleefully said from behind the green demon.

Kazuma looked at them nervously as the three demons began to walk towards the stairs.

"A-A Battle Royale against those guys? If they combine their attacks at me, then no matter how strong I am, I've had it haven't I?" Kazuma asked.

"You don't know that Kuwabara, I'm sure they can't be any worse than Toguro," I honestly stated.

That didn't seem to help his nervousness. He turned pale and looked at me with a freaked out expression on his face.

"(Name), I don't think you're helping the situation," Kurama said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"I guess not..." I said with a sweat drop at the back of my head.

I decided to take another bite of my sandwich afterwards as my exhaustion began to hit me full force.

I really did need to take a nap.

Kazuma suddenly burst into laughter before he pointed at Yusuke.

"All right, Urameshi! I'm going to yield this one to you! I'll let you take care of the whole thing. Show us the outcome of your special training!" Kazuma shouted energetically.

Yusuke didn't respond, and I looked over at him in confusion.

It wasn't like him to not jump at the chance to fight someone.

Kazuma crouched down in front of him and we both noticed Yusuke's eyes were closed and he was snoring. The color drained from Kazuma's face and his mouth fell open in disbelief. Moments later, sweat appeared on his temple as he grabbed the front of his jacket and began to shake him.

"Hey! What are you sleeping for?! What are we going to do if our leader is so cavalier?!" Kazuma shouted at him.

He stopped shaking him hoping for a response but Yusuke simply continued to sleep. Kazuma shouted at him while he shook him again.

"Come on! What are you, comatose?!"

"Stop!" Kurama said as he stepped over to him.

Kazuma looked up at him in surprise and stopped trying to wake Yusuke as Kurama continued to speak.

"He's gone through some very intensive training, right? He's entered a deep sleep to recover his physical and spiritual power. To be honest, I'm surprised (Name) hasn't done the same thing. They both went through the same training."

"I do feel tired. I've wanted to go to sleep for most of the day," I said with a yawn.

Kazuma shot to his feet and spoke.

"So, who the hell is going to go?"

The Masked Fighter silently walked towards the stairs of the ring and all of us gazed at him in surprise, or in Hiei's case interest.

"Interesting. Looks like he wants to go. I'm going to have a look at what he's capable of," Hiei said.

"Well then — since he seems to have our team covered and I'm tired — I'm going to finish my sandwich and go to sleep like Urameshi," I said before I stuffed the rest of my sandwich into my mouth.

"You've gotta be kidding! What are we going to do if he loses? It'll be right back home again, without even getting called up!" Kazuma shouted as he pointed at the Masked Fighter.

"If that happens, then all we have to do is kill everyone on this boat. Once we do that, there'll be nobody to complain," Hiei said confidently with a smirk on his lips.

"Your personality is as frightening as ever," Kazuma said mildly freaked out as I swallowed the last of my sandwich.

"It doesn't make any sense to do that idiot. If he dies, then we won't have enough people to compete anyway. It would just be a waste of our energy," I said as I rubbed my eyes tiredly.

"She does have a point," Kurama said to Hiei before he spoke to me. "However, we may not have a choice if we want to live."

"I'm not really worried that it will come to that. Urameshi seems to be confident in the Masked Fighter's skill. I think we can trust his judgment," I said to them truthfully.

Hiei and Kurama looked at me with a little surprise on their faces due to my words.

I ignored their surprise as I set my duffle bag down behind me then lied down and placed my head on top of it.

"Are you seriously going to sleep?!" Kazuma shouted at me.

"Yes. I'm tired. Besides, I don't really think I can keep my eyes open any longer even if I wanted to. Wake me up when we get there," I said as I rolled onto my side and turned my back to him.

"How can you sleep at a time like this?!" Kazuma shouted at me in disbelief.

"If you're tired, you sleep. Now shut up before I'm forced to beat the living crap out of you," I said with annoyance in my voice.

"Let her do what she wants Kuwabara-kun. It will be more beneficial to us if she rests so she can fight with her full strength in the tournament," Kurama said to him.

I must have really been completely exhausted because if they said anything else I didn't hear it and instantly fell asleep.

 **XXXXXX**

Koenma and Jorge, his blue skinned ogre assistant, were staring at the massive television screen in front of Koenma's desk. On the screen was a scene of a large ship in the sea. They were watching what was happening on the ship to Hanging Neck Island.

"Say, Koenma-sama, who in the world could this masked warrior be anyhow?" Jorge asked with a thoughtful expression on his face.

He was standing on Koenma's right behind the desk while the young looking ruler was sitting in his office chair. Koenma had his left elbow propped onto his desk while resting his head on the palm of his left hand with a depressed expression on his face.

"Good question," Koenma said with obvious depression in his voice.

"Please, don't tease me like this. Tell me, okay?" Jorge said with a forced smile.

"I don't know either," he said as he looked over at him.

"Eh?!" Jorge said with an extremely shocked expression on his face. "But you're the Urameshi Team owner, aren't you, Koenma-sama?"

Koenma's depression became even more apparent as he leaned forward and placed his arms down onto his desk to rest his chin on his hands.

"Well, up to a point..." he responded.

"So then, how come...?"

Tears came to Koenma's eyes and he fought to contain them as he spoke.

"It's because nobody keeps me informed of anything!"

At that moment his burst into tears and hid his face in his arms.

"So nobody wants anything to do with you, and you're just being ignored, huh?" Jorge said as he scratched the side of his head and looked up at the ceiling.

Koenma's depression was quickly replaced with anger as he stood on his seat and yelled at him.

"Shut up!"

The young ruler jumped up onto his desk and continued to shout in frustration.

"Damn! Nobody treats me like I'm the owner here. I'm still a superb owner, you know!"

He kicked a couple of piles of paper off his desk as his anger managed to get the best of him. Once he fell onto his back, he began to thrash about on top of it as he started having a temper tantrum.

"Koenma-sama, calm down!" Jorge said with a forced smile.

Koenma stood up with tears at the corners of his eyes and shouted out in frustration again.

"Why hasn't Botan come to report to me?! Where the hell is she and what is she doing?!"

 **XXXXXX**

Botan let out a loud yell of surprise as Yusuke's mother, a young woman named Shizuru Kuwabara, and a girl named Keiko Yukimura ganged up on her. She fell to the floor inside of Yusuke's apartment and backed away from them until her back hit the side of Yusuke's bed. The three women took a couple of steps towards her with stern expressions on their faces. They were obviously expecting answers.

Shizuru Kuwabara was currently eighteen years old and the older sister of Kazuma Kuwabara. Her long light brown hair was parted on the right, and she had piercing brown eyes. She was wearing a buttoned-up pink shirt underneath a cream long sleeve knit top, jeans and white socks. There was also a cigarette between her lips.

Keiko Yukimura was currently fourteen years old and was the childhood friend of Yusuke's and also his girlfriend. She had short brown hair and soft looking brown eyes. She was wearing a pink long sleeve dress and white socks.

"What on earth's come over you three?" Botan asked before she laughed at them nervously.

She was currently wearing a long sleeve cream colored top, blue shorts and white socks that reached up to her thighs.

Keiko, Shizuru, and Atsuko took one final step towards her.

"Botan-san, you know where Yusuke has gone, don't you?" Keiko asked.

"I don't have any idea where my brother Kazuma has gone, either," Shizuru said.

Atsuko was silent as she waited for Botan to answer their questions with a frown on her lips.

She had on a gold three-fourths sleeve top, blue jeans and white socks.

"He hasn't contacted us in a long time!" Keiko said.

"Really? That is a concern, huh? Where could they have gone, indeed?" Botan asked with a forced smile before a nervous laugh escaped her lips once again.

Atsuko stepped forward with a serious expression on her face and crouched down directly in front of her. Botan stopped laughing and let out a yelp of surprise as Atsuko's eyes bore into hers.

"You know, don't you? Come on, tell the truth," Atsuko said.

"Please, Botan-san!" Keiko pleaded.

Botan made a sound of nervousness due to her plea. She knew she was in an extremely difficult situation.

"B-But..." Botan said nervously.

Shizuru placed her cigarette between the pointer and middle fingers of her right hand and also crouched down in front of her.

"Come on!" Shizuru ordered.

"You see, now..."

"Now!" Atsuko ordered.

"Botan-san!" Keiko shouted as she also crouched down in front of her.

Botan didn't say anything for a few moments while she thought to herself.

 _"It would pain my heart to lie to Keiko-chan anymore... I guess I have no choice!"_

She firmed up her resolved and tucked her legs underneath her as she repositioned herself on the floor.

"Okay, I'll tell you! But don't be surprised, okay?" Botan said seriously.

Keiko, Shizuru, and Atsuko stood up and nodded their heads in agreement feeling satisfied by her cooperation.

"The truth is..." Botan said before she began her explanation.

She told them about the Dark Tournament and Yusuke's, Kazuma's, Kurama's, Hiei's, and (Name)'s involvement.

"Eh?!" Shizuru, Keiko, and Atsuko shouted in disbelief.

"So they're representatives of the Human Realm?" Atsuko asked.

"And they're fighting demons in the Dark Tournament?" Keiko asked.

"Y-Yes!" Botan said as she nodded her head with a nervous expression on her face.

"T-They can't be..." Keiko said before she fainted.

"Keiko-chan!" Botan and Atsuko shouted in alarm as she fell to her knees.

Botan quickly came to her aid and managed to catch her before she could get hurt. Shizuru and Atsuko crouched down to the floor with concerned expressions on their faces as they looked at Keiko.

"There, didn't I tell you?!" Botan asked as she held her in her arms.

"Still, those guys are acting crazy," Shizuru said.

Atsuko nodded her head in agreement then spoke.

"This isn't like (Name)-chan at all. Why would she also join in?"

"They can't help it! If they refuse, then death awaits them. They have to fight in order to survive!"

Keiko regained consciousness and tightly grabbed onto Botan's arm as she spoke.

"Botan-san!"

"Yes?" Botan asked in mild surprise.

"Take us there, please!"

Botan didn't say anything as a surprised expression appeared on her face.

"That's the only thing to do, huh?" Shizuru said as she stood up.

"Yes," Atsuko said in agreement as she also stood up with a nod.

"B-But, um..." Botan said to them nervously.

 _"This turned out badly,"_ Botan said in her mind.

 **XXXXXX**

Kazuma, Hiei, and Kurama stepped forward to get a closer look at the fight that was about to start as the Masked Fighter walked up the long staircase. The demons that had chosen to fight decided to stand together on the opposite side of the ring while facing him as he made it onto the platform. It was obvious what their intentions were as they all stared at the Masked Fighter.

"Let's start with the weakest looking one!" one of them said with a chuckle.

"We'll dispatch the others in order," the green skinned demon from before said as he moved the fingers of his right hand eagerly.

The light grey skinned demon from before let out a sharp chuckle and spoke.

"It's that guy!"

The Masked Fighter didn't say anything to them as he calmly stood in front of the large group with his arms tucked behind his back. Kazuma made a sound of unhappiness while he and Kurama looked at the scene with tense expressions on their faces.

"They're converging their attack, all right! And since he's in that corner, there's nowhere to run! That idiot!" Kazuma shouted.

"This is bad!" Kurama said.

A smirk appeared on the pirate man's lips as he stared down at the scene.

"Begin!" he shouted into his microphone.

All of the demons charged forward without hesitation in order to attack the Masked Fighter.

"You're going first!" one of the demons shouted.

"We're going to take you apart!" the green skinned demon shouted.

The Masked Fighter took a fighting stance as he brought his left hand out in front of him and pulled his right hand back into a fist. Spirit Energy quickly gathered around his right fist until it turned blue as he prepared his attack. Meanwhile, the light from his energy engulfed the ring and made each demon pause as looks of surprise appeared on their faces. They didn't have a chance to do anything else as the Masked Fighter rapidly punched his fist in their direction as he launched his attack. Dozens of small bursts of energy flew towards them and hit every demon with enough force to throw them off the ship and they fell into the sea.

"A-Awesome! He blew them away with just one shot!" Kazuma said in amazement as he looked over at Kurama.

A small smile appeared on Kurama's lips as he closed his eyes.

"Now we see why Yusuke can sleep so soundly, without any worries. It's no wonder why (Name) thought she could trust his judgment."

Kazuma looked back over at the Masked Fighter as he walked down the stairs.

 _"That was Urameshi's Shotgun just now... Who the hell is that?"_ Kazuma asked in his mind.

An unhappy expression appeared on the pirate mans face as he shouted into his microphone.

"It 'as been determined that the sixteenth team in the Dark Tournament finals will be the Urameshi Team!" he shouted as his raised his left arm up into the air.

"That was awesome, wasn't it? You were overwhelmingly strong! Who on earth are you?" Kazuma asked the Masked Fighter as he walked over to them.

Instead of answering, the Masked Fighter pointed behind him. Kazuma, Hiei, and Kurama looked over their shoulders and realized that the other demons on the ship had decided to surround them. It was obvious they had no intention of letting the outcome of the fight determine whether or not they were going to be in the Dark Tournament.

"What?!" one of the demons said in protest.

"In that case, the rules don't mean anything!" another demon shouted.

"Anyhow, all we have to do is defeat these guys!" a different demon declared.

"Damn it all!" Kazuma said while looking around tensely.

"Things are turning out as expected. This won't even serve as a warm-up, but I guess it's better than just standing around," Hiei said with a frown.

"Agreed," Kurama said with a smirk as he pulled out a rose.

Everyone except Kazuma jumped high into the air leaving him behind as they prepared to fight the demons.

"Hey!" he called out to them.

A demon decided to take him by surprise as it snuck up from behind him while his attention was on Hiei, Kurama, and the Masked Fighter. It jumped onto his back and wrapped its legs around his waist and arms around his neck to choke him.

"You bastard... Cut it out!" Kazuma shouted angrily.

He managed to get a good grasp on the demons arms then used his strength to throw it over his shoulder. It's back slammed down onto the floor in front of him as another demon jumped up into the air and launched another attack at him. He quickly created his Spirit Sword and raised his arms over his head to stab it through its stomach.

"Don't mess with me!" Kazuma exclaimed as the demons body hung lifelessly over him.

The Masked Fighter had his arms tucked behind his back while dealing with the demons attacking him as if he was mocking them. When a green skinned demon punched at him, he jumped into the air to avoid the attack. Afterwards, he used the back of its head as a launching pad to allow him to distance himself from his opponents. Despite his intention, the second he landed back down onto the floor of the deck another demon charged forward and swung its sword at him repeatedly. However, the demons attempts to kill him proved futile as he easily avoided its attacks. After a few moments, the Masked Fighter decided to jump up onto the ring at the center of the ship to put some distance between him and his opponents once more. Two extremely large demons came up from behind him and tried to attack but he responded by easily kicking them in the face with enough strength to defeat them.

A large group of demons charged at Hiei but before they could reach him he quickly took out his sword and sliced them into pieces in mere seconds. They were dead before any of them could even try to comprehend what had happened.

Another large group of demons charged at Kurama from all directions as he held his rose in his right hand. He raised his right arm up into the air and turned it into a whip with a confident smile on his lips. Rose petals flew all around him as he swung his whip to send them towards his opponents. They let out yells as they were forced to stop dead in their tracks while the petals blocked their vision.

"Rose Whip Thorn Wheel!" Kurama shouted out his attack.

He skillfully swung his whip around him in a circular motion and sliced through their bodies with ease. Once he was sure all of his opponents had been defeated, he stopped swinging his whip and rolled it up into his hand. The demons around him stood in place for a few moments then fell the floor of the deck in pieces.

Afterwards, a demon came up to Yusuke in order to attack him.

"You'll die like this, while you're dreaming!" the demon said as his extremely long nails gleamed in the moonlight.

Kazuma sliced through one of his opponents and noticed what was about to happen.

"U-Urameshi!" he shouted in alarm.

"Die!" the demon shouted sadistically as he launched his attack.

Yusuke suddenly stood up and rapidly began to punch at the demon without warning and took it by surprise. The demon was thrown back due to the force of his attack and slammed onto the floor of the deck. It continued to roll all the way to the other side of the ship and slammed into the opposite railing before slinking forward unconscious.

"You hag! Bring it on! I can still keep going!" Yusuke shouted as he continued to rapidly punch at the air.

"That bastard. So he's awake, then?" Kazuma asked as he looked over at him.

"Idiot. He's talking in his sleep," Hiei said from behind him.

Kurama and the Masked Fighter were standing next to him as they observed what was happening.

"Talking in his sleep?" Kazuma asked in disbelief.

Yusuke continued punching the air in the front of him for a few more moments then suddenly stopped. His body completely relaxed and he collapsed onto the floor of the deck in a sitting position.

"For him to be training while fast asleep, it looks like he was put through some incredible special training," Kurama said obviously impressed by the turn of events.

Two demons the group over looked sudden launched towards (Name) while she continued to sleep peacefully next to Yusuke.

"Then we'll just take out the girl!" one of them shouted angrily.

"(Name)!" Kurama and Kazuma shouted in alarm.

"Die!"

Hiei ran forward as he pulled out his sword and sliced them to pieces with ease before they could reach her.

A surprised expression appeared on Kurama's face before a faint smile appeared on his lips.

"It looks like you two really have become close," he commented.

Hiei put his sword away then spoke.

"She simply made a valid point earlier. If she's killed, we won't have enough people to fight in the tournament. I also still have a score to settle with her after the tournament ends. I would hate to have her die before I do."

He looked down at her as she rolled over with a peaceful look on her face.

 _"Hold on! Urameshi said "hag", didn't he?"_ Kazuma thought to himself before he looked over at the Masked Fighter. _"So then, that runt over there... Don't tell me that's Master Genkai! Nah, that hag isn't the sort to come all this way..."_

Kazuma looked up at the sky as he placed his right hand on his chin with a thoughtful expression on his face and spoke to himself out loud.

"But then, who do you think would come?" he asked.

"What are you mumbling about?" Kurama asked in confusion.

Kurama, Hiei, and the Masked Fighter decided to walk away from him.

"This guy's talking in his sleep even when he's wide awake," Hiei bluntly said while gazing at him from the corner of his eye.

Kazuma's thoughts about the Masked Fighter came to a halt as a look of realization came to his face.

"Huh? By the way, what about the Battle Royale?" he asked as he looked around and realized that no one else was attacking them.

"It's long since over. Hiei defeated the last of them," Kurama replied.

Kazuma made a sound of surprise as he continued to look around.

"Hey, you're right," he said in amazement.

The pirate man looked down at the remaining group in shock with sweat covering his face.

"It's just as Sakyo-san said. They're on an entirely different level than these punk demons. I was 'oping to judge how much power and offensive capability they 'ad, but there's no telling what that group is capable of," he said to himself.

Kazuma, Kurama, Hiei, and the Masked Fighter stood at the front of the ship in complete silence for a little while until the island finally came into view.

A confident smirk appeared on Kazuma's lips as he spoke with anticipation in his voice.

"It's coming into view. Hanging Neck Island. There's no telling how terrible a place this is," he said before a serious expression appeared on his face as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Hike up your briefs, everyone!"

When the boat finally stopped on the island, Kazuma and the others walked over to Yusuke and (Name).

"Hey, it's time to wake up (Name)," Kazuma said as he crouched down to shake (Name)'s shoulders.

She didn't respond so he tried again.

"Hey (Name)! We're here!" he said loudly into her ear.

He repeated his actions a few more times but she didn't respond.

"Leave her alone for now. It doesn't look like she's going to wake up any time soon," Kurama suggested.

"Alright," Kazuma said in agreement as he stood up. "Since we can't wake either of them up, who's carrying them?"

Hiei didn't say anything but walked over to (Name) and picked her up bridal style with ease. Kazuma decided to drape Yusuke over his back and left his feet dragging on the ground as he walked forward. Kurama picked up (Name)'s duffle bag and carried it for her.

It took the group about fifteen minutes to get from the pier to the center of the island where a grand luxury hotel had been built.

"This is where they're putting us up?" Kazuma asked in surprise while they stood in front of the electronic sliding doors of the hotel.

All of them stepped forward and the doors slid open to allow them entrance to the large lobby. They stopped walking once they were inside the building and continued to look around.

There were small groups of rich men and women chatting with each other inside of the large high ceilinged room as they drank wine. All of them were wearing three piece suits, or elegant dresses seemingly dressed to impress. The walls were green and had intricate gold bordering at the top of them. A few small chandeliers were hanging down from the gold, paneled ceiling along with another massive one that was over the couches at the right side of the room.

"Is this really where we're supposed to stay?" Kazuma asked in disbelief.

A man who looked like a butler walked over to them and spoke with a cold smile on his face.

"Welcome to the hotel. I will direct you to your room."

The group didn't respond and silently began to follow after him as he led them towards their assigned room.

"This place is actually starting to make me feel uneasy. Is this really the Dark Tournament?" Kazuma asked tensely.

While the group wasn't paying attention to them, some of the rich women and men stared at them.

"Those are the sacrificial guests this time," a blonde haired woman said with a cold smile.

"Poor things. They're still just kids, aren't they?" an older man asked.

"Well, why don't we let them entertain us?" another man said with a smirk while holding a cigar.

 **XXXXXX**

Koenma was sitting at his desk while using an official stamp to place his seal on one of the many papers stacked up in front of him. After a few moments of repeating the action, he suddenly stopped then yelled out in frustration.

"Ah! I quit! I quit!" he shouted as he threw the papers up into the air. "I'm so worried, I can't do anything! I'm going too!"

"Going? Where to?" Jorge asked in confusion while sitting at his own desk.

Koenma stood up and spoke.

"That's obvious, isn't it?! The Dark Tournament!"

"You can't!" Jorge said as he walked over to Koenma's desk and placed his face in front of his to try to reason with him. "Koenma-sama, you have important work here..."

An unamused expression appeared on Koenma's face and he stamped Jorge's left cheek.

"Anyone can do this kind of work!"

Jorge made a sound of disbelief.

"How irresponsible and apathetic! You're always like this, you know!"

"Oh," Koenma said as he placed his stamp down onto the desk and crossed his arms over his chest. "Is that so? Well, I've got no choice then, huh? And here I was thinking of taking you along..."

"Eh?!" Jorge said with wide eyes.

"I can't help that now," Koenma said as he jumped down from his chair and began to walk away. "I guess I'll just have to go by myself."

"U-Um..." Jorge said before he made his decision and began to run after him. "Koenma-sama!"

 **XXXXXX**

A man who looked like he was in his late twenty's stood in front of the large window of his hotel room at the top of the building. He had long black hair that was slicked back and piercing dark blue eyes. A long scar on his face went from the right side of his forehead and almost down to his right jaw. It was the only thing that slightly marred his attractive face and gave him an air of danger. He was wearing a black two piece suit, a white buttoned up dress shirt, black dress shoes and a blue tie.

"I hear that Urameshi and the others have entered the hotel," he said with his back turned to the younger Toguro brother who was standing on the opposite end of the room. "According to the information from the captain, the demons aboard the ship were outclassed."

"If they weren't, this wouldn't be any fun," Toguro responded.

The man grabbed a piece of paper with a chart of names on it from the small round table next to him.

"Well, tomorrow we should be able to take a good long look at them," the man said before he turned to face him with a smirk on his lips. "The Urameshi Team has been designated to face the Shichiyukai Team in the first round."

"Oh? The Shichiyukai? That will be enjoyable," Toguro said with interest.

 **XXXXXX**

"This is your room. We hope it's to your liking. Enjoy your stay," the butler said to them once he led them inside of the room.

He bowed and closed the door behind them as they looked around the hotel suite.

A chandelier hung over a small rectangular table at the center of the room from the blue colored ceiling. There was a brown L-shaped couch at the left side of the table and a pouf seat at the right to provide places to sit. Another, smaller two person couch was positioned directly in front of the L-shaped couch behind the pouf seat. A small wooden dresser was also placed behind the L-shaped couch. The walls of the room were cream colored and had a few paintings hanging from them. On the red floor was a light purple rug that was underneath the couches and table. There were small ceiling lights placed in various spots to give more light.

Kazuma walked over to the smaller couch and placed Yusuke down onto it so he was lying down. Hiei set (Name) down onto the L-shaped couch next to Kurama in an upright sitting position and her head fell forward.

"This sure is one rich room! I wouldn't mind coming to a tournament like this any number of times!" Kazuma exclaimed.

A knock came from the door and everyone looked over as a hotel worker came into the room.

"I have brought some coffee," he announced as he walked into the room with his service cart.

Hiei sat down in the empty spot of the couch next to (Name) while Kazuma decided to sit on the pouf seat.

"Go ahead, at your leisure," the man said with a bow once he placed six coffee cups onto the small table.

He turned his back to them and walked out of the room with his service cart before shutting the door behind him.

"Okay, then..." Kazuma said before he paused. "Hold on, there wouldn't be any poison in here, right?" Kazuma asked while staring at the cup of coffee warily.

Kurama picked up his cup and spoke.

"The tournament isn't deceitful like that. In the end, its goal is genuine fighting."

"The people holding the tournament plan on having us torn to bits in a fair fight," Hiei added.

Kazuma grabbed (Name)'s duffle bag and began to search for something.

"Well, there's nothing more important than being cautious," he said before he pulled out a can of soda. "I'll have the drink (Name) brought with her. It's the least she can do since she wouldn't share her sandwich with me."

"You know she isn't going to like that when she finds out Kuwabara-kun," Kurama warned.

"Knowing her, she'll attack you," Hiei said.

(Name) suddenly moved and Kazuma tensed up as he yelled out in fear.

"I didn't do anything! I was going to give it to you!" he lied.

She didn't say anything in response. Instead, her head fell to the side onto Kurama's right shoulder. It was obvious she was still asleep.

"How they can manage to sleep through you is amazing," Hiei said bluntly.

Kurama looked down at the table and paused.

"This is strange! There's one cup missing!" he said as he tensed up.

"There were definitely six of them. And since I'm not drinking mine..." Kazuma said before he trailed off.

"That's why it's strange. Yusuke and (Name) are still asleep!" Kurama said seriously.

"U-Urameshi's or (Name)'s cup, huh? Suddenly, it's not there!" Kazuma said tensely while looking down at the only two cups on the table.

Afterwards, everyone heard a sipping noise from within the silent room and glanced behind the L-shaped couch.

"What?!" Kazuma said in shock.

There was a boy who looked like he was ten years old crouched down on top of the small dresser with the cup of coffee in his hands. He had green eyes and short messy brown hair. The little boy was wearing a long sleeve shirt that had red for the torso and gold long sleeves, jeans and sneakers. He had a red and gold diagonally striped baseball cap that was pointed sideways on his head with a white section on the front of it. A small green bag hung over his right hip that had a long strap which went from his left shoulder and across his upper body. He also had a small tattoo of three red stars underneath his left eye.

A chuckle escaped his lips while he smiled at them. Afterwards, everyone quickly stood up in alarm and faced him. Due to their movements, (Name) fell onto her side on the couch still completely obviously to the current situation like Yusuke was.

"When did he come in the room?!" Kurama asked in surprise.

"There's no doubt, he was hiding in this room from the start!" Kazuma said as he looked around for anyone else who might have entered the room with him.

"Hiding? That's outrageous! I came through the door, to be sure!" the boy said before he looked up at the ceiling as something occurred to him. "Oh, maybe I forgot to knock."

The room was silent with the exception of a sipping noise as everyone watched him drink up the contents of the cup before he spoke again.

"I'm overdue introducing myself, huh? I'm Rinku. I'm chief of special attacks for the Shichiyukai Team, who you'll fight tomorrow in the first round."

"Shichiyukai?" Kazuma asked.

The boy decided to set the cup down onto the dresser and placed his two pointer fingers onto it. He used them to balance on as he lifted his legs up into the air and moved them out to the side like he was doing the splits.

"Must be nice to be guests. You don't have to go through the boring opening ceremonies or the briefing session, just right away into the matches. Oh, that's right! Since you're all going to die anyhow, you don't need to have anything to do with the prizes and victory and stuff, huh?" he asked with a carefree smile on his face.

 _"What is it with this bastard's odd composure and playfulness?"_ Kazuma asked in his mind.

No one said anything and the boy looked at them confidently as he spoke.

"I heard the guests this time were awesome, and I had high hopes, but what a disappointment. I'll win all by myself like this."

"You talk too much, Rinku," a man said from inside of the room.

Everyone immediately looked over towards the closed door which led to the hallway outside of the suite.

There was a man with short spiked up blonde hair and brown eyes. His most noticeable feature was his pointy ears. It was the only thing that told anyone he wasn't human. He was wearing a dark blue t-shirt, khaki pants, and black boots.

"Another one! He wasn't here! He for sure was not here!" Kazuma said.

Rinku jumped all the way over to the man from the dresser and landed in front of him with a laugh. Afterwards, he stood up straight as he placed both of his hands behind his head.

"Sorry Zeru! My bad habit of getting carried away with myself showed up again!" Rinku said with a laugh.

"Enjoy your last evening as much as you can," Zeru said as he opened the door to leave with a smirk on his lips. "Tomorrow, you will meet the same fate as that cup."

"What?" Kazuma asked in confusion.

Kazuma and the others quickly looked down at the cups on the table before one of them broke in half and the liquid inside poured out onto the table. They gazed back over at the two members of the Shichiyukai Team with tense expressions on their faces as a result. Zeru gave them a final glance as he closed the door behind him and left them to worry about the match that was to come...

 **XXXXXX**

"Rinku, there was that girl and boy among them that were sound asleep, huh?" Zeru asked in thought as he and Rinku walked down the hallway.

"Huh? Yeah."

"Do you think they knew we weren't out to kill them, and that's why they didn't wake up? Or else..."

"You sure they aren't just simple morons?" Rinku asked before he laughed.

"They're humans that were good enough to be chosen as guests. There's something to them..." Zeru said with a serious expression on his face.

* * *

 **Another A/N:**

And there is it! I hope all of you enjoyed it!

I just wanted to say that I am aware the name of the team the main characters is facing it different than the anime. If memory serves me, I did a little research and found out the name had something to do with the amount of people in the group. That's why I changed it.

Again, thank you so much for reading! I hope you liked the chapter! If you like the story comment, favorite, or follow!


	14. Chapter 14: Kuwabara's First Match

Alright everyone, it is finally completed! Sorry for the extreme delay. I've had a lack of motivation as of late. It's especially hard for me when I have to go back and edit my chapter to make sure it flows and doesn't have grammar issues. At least I finally managed to get the motivation to get it out! I hope all of you enjoy it! It's a long chapter! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

* * *

 **Chapter 14: Kuwabara's First Match**

(Name) was sound asleep in one of the beds inside of the room as Hiei and Kurama woke up for the day.

Two of the rooms in the hotel suite had three beds. Everyone decided that (Name) would share a room with Hiei and Kurama. The Masked Fighter and Kazuma decided to share the other room with Yusuke.

"(Name), it's time to wake up," Kurama said after trying for the third time to get her up.

When she didn't respond, he and Hiei both knew she wasn't going to wake up any time soon. She was still gradually recovering from the training she endured over the last month and a half. It had placed an enormous amount of strain on her. They weren't even certain if she was going to wake up today. However, as luck would have it, Team Urameshi's first match was today. In fact, the team was going to be fighting in the first match of the Dark Tournament. They had to take her to the arena even if she wasn't capable of fighting.

"I can't seem to wake up Urameshi," Kazuma said as he walked into the room along with the Masked Fighter.

"(Name)'s in the same condition," Kurama informed them. "We can't do anything else but take them to the arena while they're sleeping."

Once they were ready to head to the arena, Kazuma draped Yusuke over his back once again to carry him while Hiei held (Name) bridal style.

Trees covered the usually uninhabited island, and they had to walk down a dirt pathway until they made it to their destination.

Demons were waiting outside of the large circular building. There were many of them talking excitedly about the tournament. It wasn't very often it was allowed to be held. Many of them could also be heard talking anxiously of the future demise of Team Urameshi. It was something most of them were anticipating with glee and excitement in their eyes.

The group ignored them as they made their way inside and didn't stop walking until they reached the entrance of the arena floor. At its center was a large circular ring where all of the fighting would take place. The open roof of the building allowed sunlight to beam down onto the arena floor. Thousands of seats blanketed the sides of the massive circular room that rose in levels along each wall. There were already very few seats remaining, and demons were becoming restless as they waited for the first fight of the tournament to start.

A woman who had short light brown hair with thick bangs going across her forehead and vivid green eyes walked up to the ring with a microphone in her hand. She had a very visible set of fox ears on top of her head and a bushy tail which revealed she was a demon. Her outfit was a white sleeveless v-neck top with a gold collar and a green tie that hung down the front of it. The shirt was tucked underneath a pair of light purple shorts. A pair of black Nylon's completely covered the pale skin of her legs. On her feet she had red boots that went up to the middle of her shins and there were red wristbands on her wrists. To finish the look, she had a red choker around her neck.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we apologize for the long delay," the woman said excitedly into her microphone. "I am Koto, your ring announcer, at your service! We now commence the Dark Tournament!"

"Get the hell started already!" one of the demons in the crowd shouted clearly annoyed by the delay. "All of us demons stopped eating people, and kept ourselves from stealing while we waited for this day!"

 **XXXXXX**

Team Shichiyukai was standing near the entrance of the arena floor on the opposite side of the building as Team Urameshi.

The demon on the far left of the group looked completely human and was the second tallest of the group. He was slender with long, thick, curly brown hair and had a goatee and a thin mustache. His outfit was a white loose fitting long sleeve shirt and black pants. He also had a red bead necklace around his neck and a pair of round sunglasses covering his eyes.

To his left was a demon with gray colored skin, short black spiky hair, and pointed ears. His eye balls were yellow with purple pupils. He was a little shorter than Zeru and thin. He was wearing a dark green trench coat, black pants, and black boots.

Another demon was standing between him and Rinku who also looked human. He had long black hair and blue eyes. His outfit was a simple black t-shirt, blue jeans, and brown boots.

On the other side of Rinku was Zeru who was standing to the left of the last member on their team. The last member was the tallest of their group and muscular with short black hair. If it wasn't for his purple skin, he might have looked human. He was wearing a green t-shirt, brown pants, and brown boots.

Rinku had a carefree expression on his face as he looked around at the spectators in the arena with his hands behind his head.

"Whew!" Rinku said excitedly as he took a few steps forward. "There's an amazing number of spectators! I'm fired up!"

Four of the other members of the team were silent as they also stared into the arena with varying degrees of excitement. Zeru was the only one who had a serious expression on his face.

"We've been delayed long enough! We're tired of waiting!" another demon shouted from the crowd.

"Stop dawdling!" another one shouted as Zeru looked up at the top of the arena where one of the VIP rooms was.

 **XXXXXX**

Four members of the Black Black Club were sitting inside of their VIP room at the top of the arena with two guards behind them guarding the door.

One of the men was old and bald with a long beard. He wore traditional Japanese clothing and round spectacles over his eyes. The man who was sitting to his left was another old man. He was heavyset with wavy grey hair that was parted on the left side of his head and had small black eyes. He was wearing a brown vest over a white long sleeve buttoned up shirt, a blue tie, black slacks and black shoes. A large cigar was hanging from his mouth. The man with the scar on his face and long black hair was to his left with a pleasant smile on his lips. And lastly, another older man with straight grey hair that was parted to the left was to his left. He was wearing a green business suit, a red tie, and black shoes. In his left hand he was holding a glass of red wine and had a smirk on his lips.

"I don't know if you can call it the special privilege of us humans who have taken to the underworld and sold our souls over to the devil... but to be able to see hell on earth is a feeling that the decent, poor populace cannot understand," the heavyset man said to the bald man.

"The contestants for the first match of the first round are now making their entrance," Koto announced.

She pointed over to the right at one of the entrances to the ring floor and continued to speak.

"The Shichiyukai Team!"

Zeru, Rinku, and the other four members of their team walked towards the ring confidently.

"We've been waiting for this, Shichiyukai!" one of the spectators shouted as the crowd cheered.

"The fan favorites!" another demon shouted from the crowd.

"What do you think, Sakyo-san?" the man holding the wine glass asked as he looked over at the man with long black hair. "These guys are folks we found in the heart of the amusement district. Their names are still not well known, but they are the new power behind a dark mythology I am creating."

He decided to look back down at the Shichiyukai Team as he continued to speak.

"They are the only ones who are capable of overthrowing your Toguro Team. Never mind that Urameshi and his bunch are no match for them," he said confidently.

Sakyo didn't say anything in response. He simply continued to have a small smile on his lips.

"Facing them are our guests, the Urameshi Team!" Koto announced as she pointed to the left entrance of the ring.

Sakyo gazed down at the team and his eyes landed on the girl who was in Hiei's arms. From the distance they were at he couldn't see her very clearly but there was something about her that seemed familiar. He couldn't quite place what it was though and decided to dismiss it for the time being.

 **XXXXXX**

The crowd yelled insults at Team Urameshi as they walked towards the ring.

"Here they come!" one of the spectators shouted with obvious dislike in his voice.

"Go on, Urameshi! Burn in hell!" another demon shouted.

"Show your faces so calmly, will you, you bunch of hicks?!" a different demon said insultingly.

"Don't think you're going home alive!" another shouted at them confident of their demise.

"You traitors, Hiei and Kurama! You can get blown to pieces too!" a different demon shouted.

Kazuma made a sound of annoyance as he looked at the crowd.

"What a terrible blood thirst! That's some long pent-up anger, all directed at us!" he said with mild disbelief in his voice.

"It's unexpected to be called traitors by these guys, since they don't have any sense of fellowship," Kurama said while also looking at the crowd.

"Both teams, to the center!" Koto said into her microphone as she raised her left arm up above her head.

As directed, both teams climbed up onto the ring and stopped straight across from each other at the center of it near Koto.

"Kill them all!" one of the spectators shouted as both teams stared each other down.

 **XXXXXX**

Keiko, Shizuru, Botan, and Atsuko were standing outside of the arena as they waited for Koenma to appear. Keiko and Shizuru were focused on keeping a look out for Yusuke and the others. Atsuko, on the other hand, had wide eyes and could only manage to stare at the demons around them with disbelief.

Botan decided to wear something formal for the occasion and had on an orange Kimono. Around her waist she had a purple Obi sash to keep her Kimono shut and sandals. Her hair was up in a high side ponytail.

Keiko had on a white buttoned up top underneath a blue vest and a maroon long sleeve jacket. She was also wearing a blue pleaded skirt, white socks that reached up to her thighs, and black shoes.

Shizuru was wearing a boyish outfit. It consisted of a white long sleeve buttoned up top underneath a light brown vest and loose fitting charcoal black pants. Around her neck was a red tie and on her feet she had brown shoes.

Atsuko had on a simple black turtleneck and khaki pants. Over her shirt he wore a khaki suit jacket and had tan shoes on her feet.

"You're sure they're here somewhere, right?" Keiko asked.

"Go easy on him, Keiko-chan," Botan said as she looked over at her.

Keiko turned towards her with a stern expression on her face and pointed at her with her finger close to Botan's face.

"Listen, Botan-san!" Keiko said with obvious annoyance in her voice. "Because of Yusuke, we nearly died! For him to get us both so deeply involved, and then say nothing and go off to do something else dangerous is unpardonable!"

"Not to mention (Name)," Shizuru said unhappily. "I want to know why she suddenly up and vanished along with Sora! Depending on their answers I might have to kick their asses!"

"I wouldn't mind hearing the answer to that either," Atsuko said with a frown.

Keiko turned towards Shizuru and Atsuko and spoke to them.

"Shizuru-san, Atsuko-san, let's go."

"Yeah," Shizuru and Atsuko said with a nod as the three of them turned around to head towards the entrance of the arena.

 _"Just what you'd expect of Yusuke's mother and childhood friends!"_ Botan said in her mind. _"They've got a lot of guts!"_

"By the way, isn't Koenma-sama here yet?" Botan asked as she began to look around for him again.

 **XXXXXX**

Jorge was wearing a black trench coat while he walked next to Koenma who was wearing his usual outfit. They were both heading towards the entrance of the arena to meet up with the others.

"Koenma-sama, the matches are about to begin," Jorge informed him.

"Yeah," Koenma said in response.

"Come on, let's hurry."

"But..." Koenma said with a doubtful look on his face as he looked up.

His thoughts went to the first time Yusuke, Kazuma, and (Name) set eyes on him.

 _"Stop joking around!" Yusuke said as he pointed at him and laughed with tears at the corners of his eyes. "This puny kid here is Yama?"_

 _"Hey, hey, this is that bigwig Spirit Realm guy?" Kazuma asked in disbelief as he pointed at him with tears also at the corners of his eyes. "This puny little kid?"_

 _"Are you some sort of midget that looks like a baby?" (Name) asked while staring at him with an incredulous expression on her face as she held him in her arms. "There is no way that the Spirit World could be ruled by a toddler."_

Those memories were enough to make Koenma stop walking as he pouted.

 _"I don't want to be made fun of!"_ Koenma said in his mind angrily.

Jorge stared at him with wide eyes and pointed in the direction of the arena entrance.

Koenma's eyes widened as a thought occurred to him and he raised his arms up above his head.

"This calls for...!" Koenma exclaimed as he brought his arms back down and widened his stance.

"There are still tickets for good seats!" a demon shouted while holding a ticket in his hand. "The matches are about to start!"

He had green skin and thick, curly shoulder-length black hair underneath a brown hat. His ears were pointy like many of the other demons in the area, his nails were sharp, and he also had a long lizard's tail. He had yellow eye balls with black irises. His outfit consisted of a charcoal black suit, a white buttoned up top, a red tie and black shoes.

The demons black eyes landed on a man who was walking by, and he spoke out to him.

"Oh, hey there, sonny!" he shouted as he ran towards him. "I've got good tickets!"

The man stopped walking as the demon caught up to him.

"Right on the edge of the gallery!" the demon said as he tried persuading him to buy the ticket. "You'll be able to see the whole fight! How about two million for it?"

The man turned around to look at him with a ticket already in his hand.

"As far as tickets go, I have a VIP seat," he said to the demon calmly.

He was an extremely attractive man with soft brown eyes and short brown hair. His bangs were parted in the middle and on the center of his forehead were the letters "Jr". His outfit was a white long sleeve top and a pair of khaki pants underneath a blue Changshan that had black edges. Around his waist he had a red waist band. He also had a long red scarf wrapped around his neck. The only thing that was extremely odd about him was the blue pacifier in his mouth.

The demon stared at him in surprise as he looked him over then spoke as he pointed at him.

"You're Koenma, aren't you?"

Sweat formed on the demons right temple as he began to speak to him respectfully and brought his hand down.

"Are you a spectator, sir?"

"I am the Urameshi Team owner," Koenma said.

"Oh, goodness..." the demon said nervously.

"We were able to suspend the tournament in the Spirit Realm, however, special privileges were invoked and it was overturned."

"You don't say..."

"I can't dispute that this tournament will be a place to vent some stress, and the number of crimes in the Human Realm has been reduced. I can't ignore it."

"Just as I thought, sir," the demon said before a smirk appeared on his lips. "You do understand — these grounds are a black sanctuary. You're also aware that fighting is the only dialogue spoken here."

"Of course he is," Jorge said as he stood next to the demon with his hands on his hips.

The demon chuckled then spoke as he looked back over at Koenma.

"He who wins is the law. Even you are an ordinary spectator here, sir. Even if your own parents were being killed, you could only look on silently."

"I am aware of that," Koenma said calmly.

He turned his back towards him and began to walk towards the entrance once again.

"Koenma-sama!" Botan said the moment she caught sight of him. "Yusuke and the others have already come out!"

They were once again outside of the arena after checking to see if the others were already on the ring.

"Botan..." Koenma said as he stopped in front of her, Shizuru, Keiko, and Atsuko.

"You sure are popular, sir!" the demon said in surprise. "Are all four of them your sweethearts?"

"They're the guests' relatives and girlfriend," Koenma responded and continued speaking as he gave Botan a pointed look. "My dimwit assistant here let word slip out, and was forced to bring them along with her."

Botan turned around with tears in her eyes.

"He said I was a dimwit!" she said.

Koenma stepped directly in front off Keiko, Shizuru, and Atsuko and bowed to them as he introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you. Please accept my regards."

Keiko looked at him and blinked while Shizuru was silent.

"Nice to meet you," Atsuko said.

"Well, shall we be going?" Koenma asked them.

The six of them walked through the crowd of demons that were still outside as they headed towards the entrance of the arena.

"What do you know?!" the green demon said in amazement. "They have valiant women in the Human Realm, too!"

 **XXXXXX**

Dark clouds began to gather in the sky as they flew over the stadium.

"Kill them!" a demon shouted.

"Go to hell, humans!" another demon shouted.

"Those two are still asleep!" Rinku said annoyed as he stared at (Name) and Yusuke.

Zeru also had an unhappy expression on his face as he stared at them.

"We will have the captains of both teams consult to decide the methods of battle and the terms of victory," Koto announced as she spoke into her microphone again. "However, if an understanding cannot be reached then, each of the six members will fight one-on-one and whichever team has the most wins will be counted the victors. If it's a tie after the sixth match, then there will be a final match between one of the remaining members on each team to determine the victors."

"Shut up!" one of the demons shouted out impatiently.

"Captain?" Kazuma said tensely as he looked at Yusuke's sleeping form. "But this blockhead is asleep!"

"In that case, only you, Kuwabara-kun, could take his place!" Kurama said as he looked at him with a small smile.

"Me?" Kazuma asked with a happy expression on his face as he looked over at him.

"That's right, you big numbskull," Yusuke said. "I, the leader, am asleep. You do it in my place."

A forced smile appeared on Kazuma's lips as he spoke in disbelief.

"That can't be so!"

However, it was obvious Yusuke was still asleep as he stared at him and Kazuma continue to speak.

"I guess it is, huh? I don't like that I have to be next after Urameshi, but all right!" Kazuma said before a serious expression appeared on his face. "I'll decide for the time being!"

Hiei stared at him critically.

"Idiot..." he said bluntly.

"Don't do anything stupid," (Name) said bluntly.

Kazuma, Hiei, Kurama, and the Masked Fighter looked at her with a little surprise on their faces. This was the first time she had said anything since she fell asleep.

"What?" Kazuma asked her with annoyance once he realized what she said.

(Name) didn't respond and continued to sleeping in Hiei's arms.

Kurama chuckled and spoke.

"(Name) and Yusuke really are similar, aren't they?"

"That's an insult," (Name) said sounding a little offended. "I'm a lot smarter than he is."

"Shut up," Yusuke said in response despite the fact he was also asleep. "Are you calling me an idiot?"

"Yes," she said bluntly.

The four conscious members of Team Urameshi blinked as them and Kazuma laughed nervously.

"Are they really asleep?" Kazuma asked.

They were completely silent again as they continued to sleep.

"Apparently..." he said in disbelief.

Afterwards, Kazuma decided to walk forward and met Zeru at the very center of the ring. There was obvious tension in the air as they stared each other down with enough intensity that you could almost see the electricity flying between them.

"I don't care what method we use," Zeru said. "If possible, one-on-one is best. I'd like to draw out the pleasure of the game, after all."

Kazuma took another step forward as he scowled at him.

"That's just how I want it!" Kazuma declared. "One-on-one is best in a fight among men!"

"The matches will be one-on-one, best-of-six style!" Koto announced for everyone to hear.

"Now you've done it," Kazuma said as he turned around and started to walk towards his team.

Zeru acted like he was going to turn around but he decided not to as he stared at Yusuke and (Name). He clearly disliked the fact that they were asleep and a glare appeared on his face. Without warning, he began to gather his Demon Energy until green energy surrounded his body. As soon as the energy appeared, it disappeared, and flames suddenly formed around him. Kazuma stopped and turned around to look at him in surprise.

"What could this be?" Koto shouted into her microphone with surprise in her voice. "All of a sudden, extraordinary flames are being radiated around contestant Zeru!"

"I-It's like his Demon Energy is ablaze!" Kazuma said seriously and continued to speak as he noticed Zeru's glare on (Name) and Yusuke. "Are you challenging Urameshi and (Name) too?"

 _"An icy-cold stare and Demon Energy that appears to burn everything..."_ Kurama said in his mind with a serious expression on his face as wind from Zeru's energy blew through his hair. _"What a fierce bloodlust!"_

A scowl appeared on Hiei's face as he clenched his teeth and stared at Zeru.

 _"There's a guy like this in the Human Realm, huh?"_ Hiei said seriously in his mind. _"Interesting..."_

"Hey, Urameshi, wake up, would you?!" Kazuma shouted as he grabbed the front of his shirt and tried to shake him awake. "Urameshi!"

Zeru sent the flames towards the group and an alarmed expression appeared on Kazuma's face. Koto quickly ran off the ring to a safer place knowing she would be burnt to smithereens if she stayed where she was. A barrier of clear blue energy suddenly surrounded the group to protect them, and the fire was forced to circle around them instead. In response, everyone looked at (Name) in surprise.

 _"She created a barrier in her sleep?"_ Kurama asked in his mind in surprise.

Afterwards, Zeru decided to take control of the flames and sent them towards a large group of spectators. They were burnt to a crisp almost instantly.

Kazuma stared at the carnage in shock then looked back down at Yusuke.

"Urameshi!" he shouted at him again. "Wake up! Wake up, would you?!"

Yusuke didn't respond as he continued to snore.

"This is no use," Kazuma said in defeat.

 _"For him not to wake up after I gave off that must bloodlust, he must be just a simple fool after all,"_ Zeru said in his mind.

Zeru then looked over at (Name) with interest as the barrier disappeared.

 _"That girl, however, just created a powerful barrier in her sleep. She must have felt my bloodlust and reacted unconsciously when I attacked them. Interesting..."_

 _"It looks like she's caught his interest,"_ Hiei said in his mind as he looked back down at (Name).

Koto hesitantly poked her head up from the edge of the ring then spoke into her microphone.

"It appears that things have subsided," she said while everyone looked at the massive area of demons that had been killed by Zeru's attack. "Even so, what intense Demon Energy contestant Zeru had! The stadium has fallen silent!"

She climbed up onto the ring and walked to the center then raised her right arm over her head as she spoke again.

"Now then, first contenders come forward!"

"I'm off!" Rinku said to Zeru with a carefree attitude as he looked over at him.

He brought his hands to the back of his head and walked forward with a confident smile on his lips while staring at everyone on Team Urameshi.

Kazuma placed Yusuke down onto the floor of the ring.

"I'm the only one who could be tops, here!" Kazuma said seriously with his arms crossed over his chest as he walked towards the center of the ring again.

"Give it to him good Kuwabara!" Yusuke said.

Kurama picked up Yusuke then he, Hiei, and the Masked Fighter walked towards the grass outside of the ring. Hiei placed (Name) down onto the ground and put her back against the edge of the ring. Kurama decided to follow his example and placed Yusuke down next to her in the same position. The three of them stood next to their unconscious team members and looked at the fighters on the ring to watch the match that was about to take place.

 **XXXXXX**

Jorge and Koenma parted ways with Keiko, Shizuru, Atsuko, and Botan who had different seating arrangements and walked towards their VIP room.

"Hurry it up!" Koenma said to him impatiently once they reached the top floor of the stadium. "They're about to begin, you know!"

"Yes, we're here, Koenma-sama!" Jorge said once they made it over to one of the electronic doors.

Instantly, pink electricity came from Koenma's body and in a puff a pink smoke he turned back into his toddler form.

"This form sure is a lot easier!" Koenma said as he ran forward to press on the buttons next to the doors.

Jorge stared at him in surprise unable to say anything.

"Ah, I'm so worn out!" Koenma continued to say as the doors opened and he ran into the room.

"Koenma-sama does look nicer that way. I sure like it," Jorge said honestly before he slowly followed him into the room.

 **XXXXXX**

"What's this?" Rinku asked as he blinked at Kazuma. "The very weakest-looking one has come forward. After all that playing around yesterday, you still haven't gotten it."

"Aside from keeping this a one-on-one fight, there are no rules!" Koto said into her microphone as she looked at Rinku and Kazuma. "You are allowed to use any equipment as well. Upon knockdowns and ring outs, I will begin to count. A ten-count will result in loss by K.O."

The dark clouds in the sky only seemed to become thicker, and a buzzer went off in the arena.

"Begin!" Koto shouted.

"All right!" one of the spectators shouted as Kazuma took a fighting stance.

Rinku stared up at him with an innocent child-like expression on his face as he stepped over to the side.

"Okay," Kazuma said as he moved his right hand in a "come here" motion. "Come at me anyway you like! Come on, kid!"

Rinku didn't say anything in response as he began to step to the side. Kazuma followed his lead and also began to step to the side with a confident smirk on his lips.

"Kill him!" one of the spectators shouted before they both stood in place.

A confident smile appeared on Rinku's face as he stood on the tips of his feet.

"I guess I can have some fun with him," Rinku said.

"Go get him!" another spectator shouted.

Rinku let out a yell as he jumped up into the air then began to jump and flip around on the ring in front of Kazuma.

"Just like a kid!" Kazuma said tensely as he tried following the small boys' movements.

After a few moments, Rinku jumped high into the air once again and suddenly launched his first attack.

"Hey, there!" Rinku shouted as he aimed a kick at Kazuma's face.

A surprised expression appeared on Kazuma's face as Rinku flew towards him. He just barely managed to avoid it by stepping to the side and turned around to face Rinku once again. However, he was nowhere in sight. Seconds later, blood oozed out from a scratch that had been made on his right temple from Rinku's kick.

"Damn! W-Where are you?" Kazuma asked as he looked around for him frantically.

He spotted something below and looked down only to be surprised to see Rinku there. The small boy was crouched down in front of him only a few feet away while looking up at him with an innocent smile on his face.

Rinku suddenly launched upwards and yelled out as he kicked him underneath his chin. Kazuma was forced to take several steps backwards as he fought to stay on his feet. Rinku used his right hand to catch himself just before he fell onto the floor of the ring. Afterwards, he used it to push himself back up into the air and made a series of back flips in mid-air to put some distance between them. He landed back down onto the ring on the tips of his toes with an innocent smile on his face he stared at Kazuma. His arms were behind his back while he lightly bounced up and down.

There was an unhappy expression on Kazuma's face as he looked over at him while holding his chin.

"Damn it!" he said annoyed as he let go of his chin and turned to face him. "Make a fool of me, will you?!"

 **XXXXXX**

Atsuko, Keiko, Shizuru, and Botan were sitting in their seats amongst the large crowd of spectators.

"Amazing," Atsuko said with wide eyes while failing to keep up with Rinku's movements.

"That Rinku is incredibly light on his feet!" Botan said tensely. "It looks like Kuwabara can barely keep up!"

"Don't go spacing out!" Shizuru said seriously.

"Kuwabara-kun!" Keiko said with worry.

 **XXXXXX**

Rinku decided to start toying with Kazuma and moved around the ring with enough speed to create afterimages of himself as he made flips and jumps around him. Kazuma tensed up as he tried following his movements.

"Damn this guy!" Kazuma said with sweat on his temple.

"He's incredibly light on his feet!" Kurama said seriously. "It's all I can do to follow his movement like this."

 _"This dude shouldn't be able to see me!"_ Rinku thought to himself confidently as he continued to rapidly move around the ring.

After a few more moments of looking at his afterimages, Kazuma was finally able to pinpoint his location.

"Your speed won't be of any use against me!" Kazuma exclaimed.

He charged forward and Rinku looked back at him in surprise realizing he had spotted him. Before the small boy could do anything, Kazuma punched the top of his head as hard as he could. Rinku let out a loud yell of pain as his hat fell off and he was thrown back due to the force of the punch. He slammed down onto the floor of the ring and bounced off of it several times until he slid to a stop a little way away from Kazuma.

The arena went completely silent as almost everyone inside it stared at Kazuma in shock.

"Way to go, Kuwabara," Yusuke said.

"W-What?!" one of the spectators said in disbelief.

Rinku slowly managed to get back up onto his feet before he shook his head. An annoyed expression appeared on his face as he looked at Kazuma and he took a fighting stance.

"Don't toy with me!" Kazuma said with a confident smirk. "Get me serious, and that's what happens."

Rinku slowly took a step to the side while staring at him. Afterwards, he decided to run to the side in order to try to use his speed to attack him again. However, Kazuma was faster than he was and as Rinku lunged into the air he managed to move in front of him to cut him off. Once again, Rinku looked at him in shock and before he could react Kazuma kicked him in the face with his left foot. A yell of pain escaped Rinku's lips again as he was thrown back. He crashed onto the ring before bouncing off of it several times and sliding to a stop once more.

"What's up with that Rinku kid?" one of the spectators shouted unhappily. "He's utterly weak!"

"Idiot!" another demon shouted as Rinku slowly managed to get back up onto his hands and knees. "Get out of there, you weakling!"

"No," Kurama said as he disagreed with the fact Rinku was weak. "It's just that Kuwabara has gotten stronger. I know I pushed him during his special training, but he's the type that doesn't start putting out power until he's in a real fight."

Rinku was able to get back up onto his feet for a moment but then fell back as he sat down on the ring in pain. Instead of attacking him while he was down, Kazuma stood in front of him patiently with a serious expression on his face as he waited for him to recover.

"Idiot!" Hiei said bluntly. "Is he pretending to abide by some code of honor? He could run him through and kill him with his Spirit Sword right now."

Rinku eventually stood back up then him and Kazuma charged towards each other. The small boy let out an angry yell and went to attack him. At the same time, Kazuma also aimed a punch at him as he let out a yell of his own. His fist connected with Rinku's stomach and the small boys face scrunched up in pain. He was thrown back as he let out another yell of agony and held his stomach.

"He has him completely trapped!" Kurama said. "This is where he can finish it!"

Kazuma continued to charge towards the small boy who was still flying backwards due to the attack.

"I'm not one to play around! I'm going to put you to rest!" Kazuma shouted before he jumped into the air and aimed a punch at him. "Sleep well through your ten-count!"

Rinku managed to smirk as he recovered from the pain. Moments before Kazuma's fist could make contact, he suddenly used his speed to get behind him.

 _"What?!"_ Kazuma thought in surprise as his eyes widened in shock.

"Did you enjoy your brief sense of superiority?" Rinku asked seriously while flying towards him to launch his own attack.

"What?!" Kazuma asked in surprise as he turned around to face him.

Rinku let out an angry yell and aimed a kick at his head. Kazuma's eyes widened in surprise and he let out a yell of alarm knowing he wouldn't be able to dodge it. The impact was strong enough to force Kazuma's head to the side and his neck cracked as it bent unnaturally. A strangled noise came from his lips as his body was forced to follow his head as it turned.

Kurama, Hiei, and the Masked Fighter stared at the scene in shock as Kazuma fell down to the floor on his stomach completely motionless.

A wary expression appeared on Koto's face as she stared at him and took a few steps back. His eyes were wide open, and his expression was blank.

The crowd immediately began cheering in excitement. They were happy the Urameshi Team had lost the match, and one of its members was dead.

Rinku stood near Kazuma's head to peer down at him as a grin appeared on his face. Koto slowly walked over to Kazuma and stared at him for a moment then raised her right arm.

"One..." she said as she swung her arm down and started the count while repeating her arm movements. "Two... Three... Four..."

 **XXXXXX**

"What do you think, Sakyo-san?" the man next to him said with a crazed smile on his face while still holding a glass of wine in his left hand. "This group I found will have no trouble."

Sakyo didn't say anything and simply continued to smile as he stared down at the ring below.

 **XXXXXX**

"Get up!" Koenma shouted before he slammed his fists down onto the table in front of him and stood on his seat. "Kuwabara, get up!"

"It may be hopeless!" Jorge said with a tense and alarmed expression on his face.

 **XXXXXX**

"Five..." Koto said into her microphone.

Rinku began to laugh as he laced his hands together behind his head.

"How about that? Were you on pins and needles?" he asked with a smirk before a massive grin appeared on his face. "If I had simply defeated him, it wouldn't have been much fun, so I put on a little production."

A small confident smile appeared on Hiei's face as he spoke.

"He's an impudent bastard, enjoying fighting from the bottom of his heart."

"Six... Seven..." Koto continued.

"It's no use counting. I broke his neck good, after all," Rinku said with a small smile as he lowered his arms to his sides. "I'll bet he's just about dead."

"That was some damn nice work, punk!" one of the spectators shouted out to him.

Rinku immediately looked in the demons direction with a grin.

"Way to go! Now that was satisfying!" another demon shouted.

His grin widened, and he walked towards the edge of the ring.

"Eight..." Koto said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Rinku said to the crowd as he waved his arms and blew them a kiss.

"Nine..."

"Thanks for cheering for me!" Rinku shouted towards them.

Koto suddenly stopped counting and the crowd fell silent as they looked behind him in surprise. In response, the smile on his face disappeared as he blinked at the spectators in front of him in confusion.

Kazuma was very much alive as he pushed up onto his hands and knees after recovering from the attack.

"Whose neck... did you say you broke?" Kazuma asked seriously as he looked over at Rinku.

Rinku's eyes widened in surprise and he didn't say anything in response to his words. He was in too much shock to say anything. Kazuma didn't say anything else as he stared at his back prepared to continue the fight. He had no intention of losing as he stared at him with a serious and determined expression on his face.

The moment Rinku recovered from his surprise, an unhappy expression appeared on his face before he shook his head. Rinku turned towards him and spoke coldly.

"So, you can stand up to a beating, can you?"

Kazuma stood, unsteadily, onto his feet and held his left cheek in his hand. It only took him a moment to steady himself as Rinku took a step towards him also prepared to continue the fight.

 **XXXXXX**

Keiko had an extremely worried expression on her face as she stared down at Kazuma.

"Kuwabara-kun!" she said.

"Impressive," Atsuko said. "It looks like those beatings Yusuke used to give him have worked out in his favor. No one else would have been able to recover from a kick like that."

"He's got grit!" Botan said in amazement.

"He's my little brother, after all," Shizuru said with a hint of pride in her voice.

 **XXXXXX**

"Amazingly, he's gotten back up!" Koto shouted into her microphone. "The match continues!"

Kazuma took a single step to the side as he continued trying to fight off the pain flowing through his neck and cheek. Rinku took several steps to the side in order to stand directly in front of him and took a fighting stance with a confident look on his face. The pain on Kazuma's face worsened as he moved his head before he removed his hand from his cheek and also took a fighting stance.

"I'll get you back ten thousand-fold for making a mockery of me!" Kazuma exclaimed unhappily.

"He's a tough bastard!" one of the spectators said unhappily. "He took that kick and still got back up!"

"Never mind, little guy!" another demon shouted towards Rinku. "Kill him like you mean business!"

Rinku and Kazuma seemed to ignore everyone else around them as they stared each other down with unhappy expressions on their faces.

"One side uses a psychological strategy to catch the other off guard, and the other side takes it and gets back up!" Kurama said seriously.

"This has turned out to be an interesting fight, huh?" Hiei said calmly.

"Right from the first match of the first round, a fine, white-hot battle has come about!" Koto shouted.

Lightening suddenly began to come down from the dark clouds in the sky, and golden light filled the roofless arena.

Rinku and Kazuma suddenly smirked at each other confidently as they prepared for the real fight that was about to start between them. Lightening continued to come down from the sky and loud thunder crackled through the air.

"To be honest, it's true that I got outsmarted," Kazuma said as he took a step forward. "However, seeing as how you were unable to defeat me, even after kicking me in the noggin while I was defenseless, you must not have that much power, huh?"

"That's my "guest," all right," Rinku said before he grabbed his small green bag that was still strapped across his body and reached inside of it. "Absolutely... if I couldn't defeat you with that kick, then I'll just have to beat you with spectral powers..." he said before he trailed off.

He took his left hand out of the bag and held whatever had been inside of it in his closed fist. Everyone silently watch as he brought his hands together and quickly slid his pointer, middle, ring, and pinky fingers into the loop of eight green strings. He brought up his right hand and revealed a yo-yo he was holding between his right thumb and pointer finger.

It was a small yellow yo-yo, probably only an inch in diameter, with a blue circle on the side of it. Inside of the circle was a red star that matched the three underneath his left eye.

"...instead," Rinku said as he finished his sentence.

Moments later, he revealed seven other yo-yos by holding each of them between the five fingers on both of his hands. His green eyes glowed red for a moment and purple energy flowed from his body. The stars on his yo-yos glowed white and small strands of purple electricity surrounded him because of his energy.

"Serpent yo-yos!" Rinku shouted.

"Serpent yo-yos?" Kurama asked seriously as the wind created from Rinku's energy blew through his hair.

 _"What a tremendous Demon Energy!"_ Hiei thought to himself seriously.

"You're finally displaying your specialty, are you? In that case, so will I!" Kazuma shouted as he created a Spirit Sword in each hand. "I won't hold back on you! Spirit Sword, double-blade style!"

Rinku stared at him for only a moment then jumped into the air with a yell.

"Shot!" Rinku shouted as he flung his yo-yos towards Kazuma.

Kazuma let out a scoff.

"I'll just take those things and whack them clean in half!" Kazuma shouted as he raised his right arm into the air then sliced at them.

His eyes widened in surprise when they began swerving around strangely.

"W-What?!" Kazuma asked in disbelief.

The yo-yos maneuvered around his sword with ease and continued to fly towards him until they slammed into his face and chest. He let out a sound of pain as a result.

"Rinku's yo-yos twisted their way in...!" Kurama said in surprise.

Kazuma's feet left the floor as he was thrown back by the attack. His back slammed down onto the ring causing him to make another grunt of pain and he slid backwards until he came to a stop.

"Whoa!" Koto said in amazement. "Ladies and gentlemen, were you able to see that? Just now, contestant Kuwabara was unmistakably thrown about by that peculiar motion!"

Rinku had a mocking smirk on his face as he played with the yo-yos hooked to the fingers of his right hand.

"Dummy!" he said to Kazuma. "This isn't some child's squabble, you know! Did you think all I could do was cast these?"

Kazuma slowly sat up from the floor and glared at him angrily.

"Damn!" Kazuma said as he formed a Spirit Sword in his right hand.

"The Serpent yo-yos are receiving plenty of Demon Energy from my fingers. All eight of them individually..." he said as they began to cut into the concrete of the ring floor before he pulled them back up to his fingers. "...move the way I want them to."

His yo-yo's suddenly began to rapidly move all around him as he showed Kazuma what he could do with them.

"Just like this," Rinku continued.

The image of a snake appeared behind him in Kazuma's mind as he stared at him tensely. Afterwards, he stood back up onto his feet and created another Spirit Sword in his left hand. Rinku ran towards him and prepared his next attack.

"You can't even hurt the strings on my yo-yos with those blunt swords of yours!" Rinku shouted before he launched them forward.

The yo-yos touched the floor and made little cuts into the concrete as they pulled Rinku forward and lifted him a few feet up into the air.

"Now this is walking the dog!" Rinku said obviously enjoying himself.

Kazuma stood there for a few moments before an idea came to his mind.

"Damn it!" Kazuma shouted as he stabbed one of his Spirit Swords into the floor in front of him.

He used his sword as leverage to push up a concrete slab of the floor and used it as a wall to protect himself then backed away. It did little to help, however, and Rinku's yo-yos continued to move towards him as they sliced through the slab. That didn't stop Kazuma from continuing to try. He began to repeat the action several times as he stepped backwards. He was hoping that eventually the yo-yos wouldn't be able to reach him once he had a certain number of slabs in front of him.

After there were five slabs in front of him, Rinku let out a yell and launched the yo-yos hooked to his left hand at him. They easily began to pierce through the slabs one after another and Kazuma's eyes widened in alarm.

"W-What?!" Kazuma said in shock and disbelief.

Moments later he was hit by them in multiple places before he could even try to avoid it. Three of them slammed into his chest. One of them collided with his face. Then the last two hit both of his wrists effectively knocking his swords out of his hands. His Spirit Swords were cast away as a result before they disappeared into nothing.

Kazuma was thrown back by the attack and the strings of Rinku's yo-yos wrapped around his ankles and wrists. Then Rinku used them to lift him a few feet into the air. Three other yo-yos made their way behind him and slammed into Kazuma's back, and he let out another yell of pain. Afterwards, Rinku decided to pull down onto the strings and his body slammed into the floor of the ring.

"The force exhibited by those yo-yos, which Rinku can intuitively use as weapons, is incomparable to his kick," Zeru stated confidently.

Rinku poured more of his Demon Energy into his yo-yos and slowly raised his arms above his head as he lifted him up into the air once again.

"Incredibly, contestant Kuwabara's five foot nine frame is being raised by the yo-yos! What fearsome spectral power!" Koto said into her microphone.

"Here you go!" Rinku shouted as he pulled down on the strings for a second time.

Kazuma let out a yell of alarm before his face slammed into the ring floor.

"I can't have you extending those things again!" Rinku shouted as he pulled on his yo-yos once more.

Kazuma was thrown over him and his back slammed down onto the ring with enough force that a small about of blood came from his mouth.

"You've got nothing to worry about!" one of the demons in the crowd shouted gleefully. "Pound him some more!"

"Way to go, way to go!" another shouted as he cheered him on. "Get him, get him, get him!"

Afterwards, Kazuma face planted into the ring floor again.

"Contestant Rinku is overwhelmingly strong!" Koto shouted into her microphone in amazement as Rinku continued to repeatedly throw Kazuma into the floor of the ring. "Contestant Kuwabara can do nothing before the terrifying Serpent yo-yos!"

"Kurama, it looks like your special training was useless," Hiei said before he looked over at him. "He can't defend himself against those yo-yos with his pair of swords."

"No," Kurama said confidently. "He hasn't gone through everything in his training yet."

A small smile appeared on Yusuke's lips in response to his words.

Rinku stopped throwing Kazuma around and left him lying on his stomach. After a few moments, Kazuma lifted his head and looked at the small boy with irritation on his face.

"W-Why you...! I'm gonna kill you!" Kazuma said.

Rinku let out a sigh and a mildly worn out expression appeared on his face.

"You're sure one tough guy!" Rinku said with a hint of tiredness in his voice. "I'm going to get worn out."

A confident smile appeared on Rinku's face as he continued to speak.

"And, since today isn't the only day of fighting, it's about time I settled this!" he exclaimed.

He widened his stance as he released more of his Demon Energy and let it flow into his yo-yos once more. Kazuma knew something was up as the Demon Energy flowed through the threads and created an aura around his body.

"What's this?!" Kazuma shouted when Rinku began to lift him up into the air once more. "Hey, come on! Hold on a second! Hey! Hello, there?!" he shouted as he moved his arms and legs with a panicked expression on his face.

Rinku didn't say anything and simply lifted his arms over his head as he raised him higher and higher into the air. Kazuma let out a yell of alarm when he realized he was higher than most of the stadium seats in the arena.

 **XXXXXX**

A freaked out expression appeared on Atsuko's face while she and everyone else stared up at Kazuma.

"If he falls, he'll die... The situation looks critical!" Atsuko said.

"Kazuma sure has risen up to a place where we can see him well, huh?" Shizuru said with a strange amount of calmness.

She was holding a cigarette between her fingers with an indifferent expression on her face that didn't match the situation.

Atsuko, Keiko, and Botan looked over at her in disbelief.

"J-Just a minute, now! If he is dropped from that height-!" Keiko said.

"Just like Atsuko said he'll die, no doubt about it," she said while still acting indifferent.

"Shizuru-san!" Botan shouted at her. "You know, he's your own brother! Is talking about him so coldly the only thing you can do?! He might actually die, you know!"

Shizuru looked over at her and spoke.

"That's all up to fate. He's just out of luck," she said before she calmly placed the cigarette back into her mouth.

"What?" Keiko said in disbelief.

 **XXXXXX**

Kazuma glared down at Rinku and shouted at him.

"Why, you...! Let me down!"

"How is the view?!" Rinku shouted up to him with a smirk. "Once I raise you a little bit higher, I'll drop you!"

"Ah, I see, pardon me," Kazuma said while continuing to move around in a lame attempt to break free. "You dumbass! Let me down!"

Rinku ignored him and continued to raise him higher and higher into the air.

 **XXXXXX**

An extremely worried expression appeared on Keiko's face before she gasped as something occurred to her. She quickly looked down at Yusuke and realized he was still asleep along with (Name).

"Yusuke!" she suddenly shouted.

The demons around them looked at her in surprise as she stood up and continued to shout at him.

"Yusuke! Hey, Yusuke! Come on, Yusuke! How can you sleep so easily when Kuwabara-kun is in trouble?!"

 **XXXXXX**

"Sheesh!" Koenma said tensely as he looked down at her. "Such a loud voice! The other demons are going to realize she's Yusuke's friend!"

Jorge had a look of disbelief on his face as he put his hand on his chin in thought.

"That's like cheering for the Giants from the right field at Koshien Stadium, huh?"

"She's going to get ganged up on and beaten up," Koenma said nervously before he looked over at Jorge. "You! Go over there and help her!" he ordered him.

A fearful expression appeared on Jorge's face.

"Y-You mean me? I hate getting into fights. Koenma-sama, you should go, please!"

Koenma made a yell of disbelief and alarm.

"Eh?! Me?!" he shouted.

Koenma looked away from him and let out a laugh as he crossed his arms over his chest before speaking again.

"Humans progress by overcoming difficulty on their own, no matter how difficult!"

Jorge immediately looked at him with a put out expression but Koenma continued to speak anyway.

"Besides, Botan is there, too, as well as Kuwabara's older sister and Yusuke's mother, who both might be pretty capable themselves."

 **XXXXXX**

"Enough already!" Keiko said before she ran towards the stairs.

"Just a minute!" Botan shouted after her. "Keiko-chan! Where are you going?!"

Keiko stopped running as she made it over to the stairs and turned around to look at her.

"He can't hear me from this far away! I have to go shout in his ear!"

A large shadow appeared over Keiko as someone approached her from behind. Her eyes widened a little in surprise and she turned around to look at whoever it was.

"Who are you, now?" the large blue demon in front of her asked. "A human, taking Urameshi's side?"

A fearful expression appeared on her face.

"What about it?!" Atsuko shouted at him annoyed as she stood up and walked over to them.

"Go on back home, now! This tournament is for demons!"

"I don't take advice from monsters!" she retorted.

Keiko gathered up her courage and also shouted at him.

"So what about you demons?! Yusuke has already died once and come back to life!"

A chuckle escaped the demons lips in response.

"Sweethearts, you both look quite tasty! How about I eat you?!"

He opened his mouth wide to eat them and Keiko let out a scream. Atsuko simply looked at him annoyed. Shizuru, who had been making her way over to them, calmly used her cigarette to burn his tongue the moment she could. The demon yelled out in pain and held his tongue while the rest of the demons stared at him in disbelief.

"Water! Help! Water! Water!" he shouted before he ran away as Botan made it over to them.

"You idiot!" one of the other spectators shouted as Keiko began to run down the stairs again.

"Just what you'd expect from Kuwabara's sister," Botan said clearly impressed. "You chased him away brilliantly!"

She looked over at her while Shizuru simply looked forward with an indifferent expression on her face.

"This is getting seriously dangerous, isn't it?!" Kazuma shouted at Rinku as he slowly moved higher into the air. "Hey, come on, squirt! If you're a man, then let's fight each other a bit more fair and square!"

Keiko made it down to the front of the spectator area and shouted towards Yusuke once more.

"See here, Yusuke! Wake up, I say!" she demanded as Botan, Shizuru, and Atsuko approached her. "Wake up and help Kuwabara!"

"Shut up..." (Name) said annoyed. "Idiot."

Botan, Atsuko, and Shizuru looked up at Kazuma.

"Kuwabara! Have some guts!" Atsuko shouted up to him.

"Be brave! Be brave, and fly right!" Botan shouted up at him.

Kazuma didn't hear them through his screaming as Keiko looked up at him with a worried expression on her face. Like before, Shizuru simply stared up at him impassively.

 **XXXXXX**

"Let me down, you piece of crap!" Kazuma shouted.

"Oh, how high in the air contestant Kuwabara has been lifted up!" Koto said. "He is in a real predicament now!"

The crowd began to become restless and cheered Rinku on.

"Drop him!" a demon shouted from the stands. "Let him have it!"

"You're finished, Kuwabara!" another demon shouted excitedly.

"What are you doing, Rinku?!" a different demon shouted impatiently. "Hurry up and get him!"

"Drop him... Drop him... Drop him!" chanted another demon.

"That's about the right height," Rinku said. "Now, be squashed like a frog and die!" Rinku shouted up at Kazuma.

Kazuma let out a yell of alarm expecting him to pull down on the strings. Instead, Rinku removed the strings from his ankles and wrists and retracted his yo-yos to let him fall to his death.

 _"W-What?!"_ Kazuma asked in his mind in surprise.

Alarmed expressions appeared on Kurama's, Hiei's, Keiko's, Botan's and Atsuko's faces. Even Shizuru seemed to be mildly worried.

Rinku's yo-yos quickly came back to him, and Kazuma immediately began to fall towards the floor of the ring. Kazuma, for obvious reasons, screamed out in horror.

"He's falling!" Koto shouted. "There's no hope for him now!"

Yusuke rolled onto his right side as he and (Name) continued to sleep. (Name) fell onto her right side then curled into a ball.

Kazuma moved his hands out in front of him and placed them close together. Gold energy appeared between them as he gathered his Spirit Energy.

"I'm not done yet!" he exclaimed. "I'm not about to snuff it like this! Sword, extend!"

A large amount of energy shot out from his hands and an extremely long Spirit Sword formed between them. It quickly planted itself into the floor of the ring and prevented him from slamming into it. Rinku stared at him in disbelief as he shrunk it at little then allowed it to bend backwards. Kazuma decided to use it as a spring and launched himself at Rinku before it completely disappeared as he flew forward.

"Contestant Kuwabara has extended a sword, and using it as a spring, he as leapt sideways from the recoil force of his fall!"

Rinku made a sound clearly impressed by his quick thinking.

"You thought that up pretty well! The adrenaline must have rushed to your head!" he said before he widened his stance and prepared his next attack. "However, coming directly at me like this is the same as saying, "Please hit me in the face with all your yo-yos!"!"

Rinku let out a yell and launched his yo-yos at him. Kazuma let out a scoff with a determined expression on his face.

"I'm going to take you down with me!" he exclaimed. "Spirit Sword!" he shouted before forming it in his left hand.

"That's useless! Coming straight at me with your blade-!" Rinku said confidently.

However, Rinku's confidence quickly disappeared when Kazuma's sword swerved around his yo-yos.

 _"What?"_ Rinku thought in surprise.

Kazuma's sword twisted around in a similar fashion as Rinku's yo-yos as it headed straight for Rinku.

 _"The blade is curving its way between the yo-yos' threads!"_ Rinku thought in alarm.

 **XXXXXX**

Sakyo made an impressed sound as he smiled.

"What?!" the man next to him said in shock.

 **XXXXXX**

"Rinku!" Zeru shouted in alarm as Rinku jumped back as far as he could to try to avoid it. "Jump back further!"

 _"I can't avoid it completely!"_ Rinku shouted in his mind while staring at the tip of the blade that was only inches away from him. _"It's going to hit me!"_

 _"Now you know how tough I am?!"_ Kazuma shouted in his mind as the yo-yos quickly approached him.

Both of their attacks hit their target simultaneous, and they were thrown back due to the force.

"Impossible!" Rinku said in shock before the sword disappeared.

"That's... what you get!" Kazuma said.

They continued to fly back until they crashed down onto their backs on the grass outside of the ring.

For a moment, the arena fell completely silent as everyone took in the sight before them.

"Nicely done," Shizuru said.

"Kuwa-chan!" Botan said with worry.

"I-Incredibly both contestants have left the ring opposite each other!" Koto said once she recovered from her shock. "They struck each other... They simultaneously struck each other!"

Hiei looked over at Kurama and spoke.

"Was that the result of your special training?"

"Yes," Kurama said with a small smile before he looked over at him. "The purpose of his training was to be able to manipulate his Spirit Sword at will."

"Now then, I will take a count! One..." Koto said as she started counting.

"The question is, which one took the greater damage?" Hiei asked while he and Kurama stared at the ring.

"I don't know," Kurama said seriously. "Both of them thoroughly hit the other. This could turn out to be a tie."

"Get up!" Yusuke shouted annoyed causing Hiei, Kurama and the Masked Fighter to look at him in varying degrees of surprise. "Get up, Kuwabara!"

"Five..." Koto said.

A look of surprise appeared on her face as she looked over and noticed Rinku grab the edge of the ring. He climbed back up onto it with a determined expression on his face and slowly managed to stand up.

"Rinku has gotten up!" one of the demons in the crowd said in amazement.

"That means the Shichiyukai has won once!" another demon said excitedly.

Rinku was panting in exhaustion. There was a hole at the front of his shirt where Kazuma's sword slammed into him.

"Who'd have thought that I would have a hard time with him?" Rinku said as he placed his hands near each other in front of his wound. "Damn!" he said in frustration as a blue sphere of energy gathered between them. "I have to treat myself quickly or it'll cause trouble!"

"Contestant Rinku has returned to the ring on the count of five," Koto announced.

"Yeah... I'm the one who won, after all..." Rinku said as he smirked with sweat all over his face.

"We don't know that yet!" Yusuke shouted.

"Yeah!" (Name) shouted in agreement. "What the hell are you doing Kuwabara?!" she shouted at him in annoyance.

"Come on, get up Kuwabara!" Yusuke shouted. "Or are you a dog that's been beaten?"

Kazuma's left ear twitched as the insult filled his ears.

"Six..." Koto shouted.

Kazuma quickly jumped back up onto his feet with an annoyed expression on his face.

"Am I a what?!" he shouted annoyed.

Koto looked at him in surprise for a moment then smiled.

"Oh! Contestant Kuwabara has gotten up too!"

Instead of jumping back up onto the ring, Kazuma looked over at Yusuke.

"Urameshi!" Kazuma exclaimed before he ran over to him and crouched down to grab the front of his jacket. "What did you say?! Hey! Who did you say was losing?!"

Yusuke didn't respond and continued to snore. Kazuma let out an annoyed scoff.

"Is this guy really asleep?" he asked.

"Seven... Eight..." Koto shouted as she continued counting.

Rinku had an annoyed look on his face as he stared at him from on top of the ring.

"W-Wait! I'm coming now!" Kazuma shouted in alarm.

"What a tough scumbag he is!" Rinku said nervously before he lifted his right hand and blue energy formed around it. "Damn!"

The yo-yos that had managed to wrap themselves around Kazuma's wrists and ankles came to life and wrapped around his upper body and thighs.

"What?!" Kazuma said in shock.

"Nine..." Koto counted.

"Damn it, what is this with these yo-yos?!" Kazuma shouted as he tried to break free.

Rinku didn't respond and continued to control them so he couldn't escape. Koto's mouth seemed to move in slow motion as it opened again. Alarmed expressions appeared on Keiko's, Botan's, Atsuko's, Kurama's and Hiei's faces.

"Ten!" Koto shouted.

The moment she finished the count Kazuma fell onto his back and the yo-yos loosened their hold on him.

"Idiot!" Shizuru said bluntly as she pulled her cigarette out her mouth.

"Instead of worry about what Urameshi said, you should have jumped back onto the ring!" (Name) shouted annoyed. "Idiot. Idiot! Idiot! You're even more idiotic than the spiky haired baboon!"

Hiei looked down at her with an annoyed expression on his face. It was obvious from the fact he had his hand on the handle of his sword that he was extremely close to attacking her. She had insulted him in more ways than he could stand. She had called him an idiot and a spiky haired baboon then proceeded to compare him to the fool who had just lost his match.

"What?!" Kazuma shouted at her annoyed.

She didn't say anything in response and continued to sleep despite the fact he was yelling at her.

"It looks like she can even insult you while she's asleep," Kurama said to Hiei with a chuckle. "Try not to do anything to her. She's still a valuable member of our team."

Hiei let out a scoff and crossed his arms over his chest still annoyed.

"The Shichiyukai Team is the winner of the first match!" Koto announced as she waved her arm towards the score board.

Kazuma decided he had bigger fish to fry than dealing with (Name) and climbed back onto the ring.

"Stop messing around, you dumbass!" Kazuma shouted at Rinku and Koto. "I can still keep going! Bring it on!"

"You've got to be kidding! There's no way!" Rinku said nervously. "I've never seen anyone as persistent as you!"

"He's quite the expert," Kurama said with a small smile. "To be able to control his yo-yos after they left his hands."

"Humph, that runt was saved by the rules," Hiei said with a confident smile.

Kazuma made a sound of annoyance and pointed at Rinku.

"Okay, you!" Kazuma exclaimed. "Once this tournament is over, you wait for me behind the gym!"

"Nothing doing!" Rinku shouted as he turned around and ran off of the ring to get away from him.

"This isn't school, you know!" Keiko said.

"What was he thinking?" Botan asked annoyed.

"He doesn't think. That's the problem," (Name) said bluntly. "Kuwabara's the most idiotic person I know."

Rinku jumped off the ring and ran past his team and didn't stop until he felt like he was a safe distance away. He crouched down with a worried expression on his face and gathered blue energy between his hands to continue to heal himself once again.

Kazuma heard (Name)'s insult and quickly made a beeline for her. He jumped off the ring and grabbed the front of her shirt as he pulled her up onto her feet.

"Why you...!" he shouted annoyed. "I would like to see you fight! I bet you wouldn't last a minute in the ring!"

She didn't say anything in response and continued to sleep which only made him more aggravated.

"Damn it! Wake up already, so I can yell at you properly!"

"Let go of me before I punch you," she threatened.

"What?!" he shouted.

When he didn't do as she asked, (Name) placed her feet firmly onto the ground and punched him in the stomach. Keiko, Shizuru, Botan, Atsuko, Kurama, Hiei and the Masked Fighter stared at her in disbelief. It was obvious she was still asleep since her eyes were closed. Kazuma let out a yell of pain as he was thrown back and crashed down onto the grass a few feet away. Her legs collapsed, and she fell back onto the ground and leaned her back against the edge of the ring.

"They really are quite similar, aren't they?" Kurama said with a sweat drop on the back of his head.

Hiei couldn't say anything in response as his right eye twitched and he stared down at her with even more disbelief than before.


	15. Chapter 15: Author Note

Hello everyone,

I've created this author note to tell all of you about what I'm planning to do with this story. It's not entirely good news, but it's not completely bad either.

First the bad news since it leads up into the good news. I am putting this story on Hiatus. I can't tell you when I'll start working on it again. It definitely won't be for a while. My life has become too hectic to deal with three stories all at once. I'm sure you've all noticed that I'm having a difficult time working on more than one story. I've only posted updates for my Draco Malfoy story, Love, Redemption, and Salvation, for the last ten months, and it will be the only one I'll work on until it's completed. Afterwards, I'll consider working on this one again or my Ren Tao, Breaking The Shackles of The Past. "ON HIATUS" has been added to the title of the story to warn anyone new about the situation.

Now for the good news. This is not going to be the end of the story. As promised, I will finish it eventually even if it takes years to do it. I have a complete rough draft for it, so even if I take some time off I'll know where the story is headed. I'm also thinking that there is a possibility I'll end up starting it again from the beginning and improving it. My writing style has changed a great deal from the time I began to post my stories on the internet and now. Hopefully I can make it even better than it was before.

I'm very sorry for the bad news. Thank you all for the support you've given me. I'll inform all of you when I've finally began to work on this story again.

Until then,

AppleBee25


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